Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

3 reviews

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

meg_sc's review against another edition

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

4.0

A few months ago, I saw a trailer for a very weird film at the cinema. At the time, I had no idea it was based on a book, but I found the audiobook of Poor Things on my @libby.app - it was slightly outside of my normal reading comfort zone but a really fascinating read. I'd recommend it if you're into historical fiction, feminism and thinking about autonomy, and weird vibes. Throughout I was thinking I was wondering if I'd missed something, Bella's story is about her developing her own autonomy, but is told almost entirely by a man, so the ending was very welcome to me (even if I'm now not sure what to believe!) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Xenophobia

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Abandonment, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child death, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Death

Minor: Religious bigotry, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Cursing, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Racism, and War