paddles1704 's review for:

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

3.5

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I lent this book to a friend and she gave it back without finishing because it was such a difficult read. As someone who has struggled with her own mental health, it is such an accurate depiction of depression that it is painful to read at times. Although the book ends somewhat ambiguously (the main character is still alive, at least) you're reading it knowing that it is also meant to mirror the experience of Sylvia Plath, who ended her life around the time it was published. Although so much of her poetry is written about dying, and her reflections on her suicide attempts, the novel ends with this sense of soldiering on. The problem with mental illness is that hope must be renewed, day after day, long after the poem is finished and the novel is published. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt