juliabaldwin 's review for:

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

3.25

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I went into this read really wanting to love it, but it fell flat for me. It was hard to follow half the time, and I had a hard time keeping track of the timeline. Sylvia Plath is a great writer and is very good at complex metaphors, which is something I usually love in books, but The Bell Jar specifically was just okay, nothing spectacular. I felt as though other writers have tackled very similar subject matter in books that spoke to me significantly more than this one. Overall, it had its good points and fully earned the 3.25 I gave it, but I was left disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment