bookish_bry 's review for:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

3.5

challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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It's hard to rate this book because I feel like I've seen a bit too much of dystopian media of this type. That isn't really the book's fault because it was written far before most of those stories, but it felt a bit boring and predictable. 

In addition, all of the perspective characters seemed dry to me. I found it hard to sympathize with any of them on a deeper level. That being said, from a structural standpoint I do like the character architypes we had narrating. I like that

Bernard ended up not being the revolutionary character and ended up being seduced by society for a bit before being spurned once again. I also like that John wasn't a perfectly correct character and that he didn't succeed in finding freedom at the end. That was kind of refreshing. I just wish... I cared about him a bit more as a person before that end.

I think to truly appreciate this book, I need to find some sources that put it into perspective a bit more. I think I'd get more invested with a bit more knowledge of the context in which it was written and its impact on the literary world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Gaslighting

As a dystopian novel, there is much talk about manipulating and brainwashing a population as well as genetically modifying people.