Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

12 reviews

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Violence, Confinement, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Child abuse, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Racism

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

What keeps me from giving it 5 stars is that I fear the author did not intend what I got out of it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Incest, Miscarriage, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Suicide, Blood, Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Insane last chapter: Gray deconstructs & satirises not just the novel but class, love & objectivity in storytelling/history. Keen to see how the film compares! 3🧠 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Classism, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Suicide, and Terminal illness

pigsjillyjiggs's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It’s supposedly a commentary on the suppression of women and hypocritical expectations etc etc ….but it seems to be mostly a bunch of men who want to be with the mentally innocent yet physically adult woman and be the one to “educate” her

Ok the last 2 hours of Poor Things has completely changed my mind lol did not see it coming. I’ve bumped it up from a 3 star to a 4 star and would actually recommend it for anyone wanting to read a science fiction social commentary about feminism and how much men suck lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Sexism

Moderate: Child death

themorsecode's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Cursing, Suicide, Medical content, and Medical trauma

secunda's review

adventurous challenging funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Delightfully postmodern with very funny prose most of the time. The book’s heartfelt yet satirical take on poverty and gender politics is quite enjoyable. The last chapter in particular makes it worth reading even if you’ve already seen the movie. It gives the novel a very different narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Racism, Misogyny, Medical content, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Forced institutionalization

helenstratton's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think this book has reignited a love of literature I had misplaced for over a decade.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Infidelity

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Sexual content, Body horror, and Pregnancy

Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, War, Suicide, Classism, and Death of parent

anntharai's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's a weird book, okay? A really fkn weird book, but just go with it and things will come together for you at unexpected moments. 

This book looks at stories themselves, the lenses we read them through, the perspectives and biases of the tellers. There is a lot to unpack with this story as well as the construction of the book itself. 

Honestly it was a solid 3 star read until about 75% when it skyrocketed for me. 

Reading this ahead of watching the film and I'm genuinely curious as to how they'll treat the story, because it could be incredible or it could be a disaster. 

It is funny. I promise. Perhaps not in the side holding, tears welling, fits of giggles way but the satirical, deadpan sarcasm, and observational political humour is front and centre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Classism, Infidelity, Addiction, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Grief, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide

sidekicksam's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Don't read the blurb, just read the book blind. You know too much about it already.

I love it when a book puts me on the wrong foot and I am left guessing where the fuck the story is going and I am confused half the time and amazed at the characters and what the fuck they are doing now and I am also loving some and hating others and the book will have me wanting to praise it but also not understanding what I am praising. This book did it all.

I love the writing style, the story, the confusion, and I'm happy Yiorgos Lanthimos turned it into a film because 1) I don't know whether I would have found this book and 2) I am certain it will be weird, magical, different from the book and still amazing. High hopes.

Highly recommended!

Quotes to live by:

That is how I learned he did not think that kissing hands is love. Love (Wedder thinks) only deserves the name when men insert their middle footless leg. 

"People who care nothing for their country's stories and songs," he said, "are like people without a past - without a memory - they are half people."

But the wholly-est bit of god is movement, because it keeps stirring things to make new ones. [...] And movement causes pain when solid bodies knock into living ones or living ones knock each other, so to stop us getting knocked dead before life wears us out we have generated developed evolved acquired invented matured gained and grown eyes and brains to let us see knocks coming and dodge them."

"Natives," said Mr. Astley carefully, "are people who live on the soil where they were born, and do not want to leave it. Not many English can be regarded as natives because we have a romantic preference for other people's soils, though we are very loyal to our old schools and school friends, our regiments and businesses. Some even feel loyal to the Queen, who is a very selfish old lady'."

He says I will only find peace by embracing his bitter wisdom [...] He says cruely to the helpless will never end because the healthy live by trampling these down.

"I told him he should allow his lady wife to lie with him half an hour a night during the honeymoon period, and once or twice a week afterwards, though all amorous dalliance should cease as soon as pregnancy was detected. Alas, Lady Blessington was so deranged even in her eighth month she wished to lie with Sir Aubrey all night long. She sobbed and wailed when not allowed to do so."

"But tell me this, Dr. Prickett. Did Lady Blessington agree to a cliteridectomy?"

"They agree that she shows no signs of mania, hysteria, phobia, dementia, melancholia, neurasthenia, aphasia, catatonia, algolagnia, necrophilia, coprophilia, folie de grandeur, nostalgie de la boue, lycanthropy, fetishism, Narcissism, Onanism, irrational belligerence, unhealthy reticence and is not obsessively Sapphic. They say her only obsessive trait is linguistic." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Infidelity

nathiddles_106's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexism, Body horror, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Gun violence, Terminal illness, and Suicide