Review by breeyore - Bridget Jones's Diary

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breeyore 's review for:

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

2.0

challenging dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Bridget starts the year off with constant negative self talk, logging her weight (only ever 120-130 lb) daily, oscillating between severely over- and under-eating, congratulating herself when calories are under 1000 or she loses any amount of weight and verbally abusing herself otherwise, consuming truly alarming amounts of alcohol, smoking, buying lottery tickets, and literally obsessing over men, and it just continues in that manner for the entire year. Despite her resolutions at the beginning, we do not see her change or grow at all, and it’s fine because she found a decent man at the end?

The book obviously makes a statement about the unhealthy thought processes women can experience as a result of a patriarchal society and/or toxic relationships (family or romantic) but

Bridget never actually acknowledges it, does not realize her thoughts or behaviors are unhealthy, just chastises herself for being “fat” or otherwise undesirable.

It was a frustrating read because instead of seizing the opportunity to actually help readers struggling with the bs she is going through, it kind of just normalizes it all. The writing is funny and relatable but became less enjoyable as my hope for her to recover and discover a sliver of self-worth dwindled.

Content Warnings