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lukegrazette's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Ableism
emmagreenwood's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Ableism, Confinement, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Excrement, Alcohol, Animal death, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
milly_gm01's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Ableism, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Dementia
greysux's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
Of course heartbreaking. Of course beautiful. This book is everything. I wish I could hug Charlie and be there every moment he was tormented. I know he wishes he could too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Abandonment, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Dementia, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
ginnyroberts2's review
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The novel version spends too much time on themes that are not as interesting or rewarding as the premise of the original short story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal death, Death, and Sexual content
monim6's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Child abuse
Moderate: Death and Domestic abuse
irisandfoxglove's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Death, and Physical abuse
Minor: Child abuse and Ableism
leona's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Flowers for Algernon spoke to me on another level. I even started underlining and annotating this book (this is unusual behavior, I don't usually draw in my books!). It's definitely one of those types of books that you can feel the significance of, or that you could imagine writing a long, complicated essay on at school (which I probably would enjoy.)
I really enjoyed the themes discussed in this book and I found them so incredibly relatable. It is particularly heartbreaking to see how Charlie is being abused and laughed at when he isn't capable of knowing better. I also picked up on some things that made me wonder if Charlie may have been autistic / on the autism spectrum, especially one scene where he remarks how his old teacher used to tie his hands around his chair to stop him fidgeting (I feel like this may have been a stim.) The moment with him attempting to learn how to make the bread rolls at the bakery was probably one of my favourite scenes, as it is one of the most detailed sections where we see how Charlie's brain used to function, and how he could learn but the impatience and lack of encouragement from others made it almost impossible. This scene really presses the need to be patient with people and recognise that all people learn differently. I also enjoyed the scene where Charlie gets drunk at the conference and argues with Nemur. I hate to use a cliche, but this book is very thought-provoking.
I had a couple of issues with the book though. Firstly, I felt like the pace dropped a bit near the middle of the book and my interest definitely started to wane a bit. This book is kind of plotless and winding, with lots of random flashbacks. This isn't necessarily a downside, but I didn't feel like the great quotes scattered throughout were always enough to completely hold my interest and make me feel inclined to pick it up. This is especially true because of my second point: the blurb and synopsis for this book I always see is way to spoiler-y Algernon doesn't die until the last 30 pages, and we don't even find out about his regression until the second half of the book. When we find out that Algernon has regressed, (from the synopsis) it's kind of obvious that Charlie will as well. This kind of lessened the emotional impact as I always felt like I was waiting to be told the 'plot-twist' of Algernon dying. I also felt that the ending scene may have been a bit brief.
My last complaint is the female representation. I understand that a large part of this novel is around Charlie's intelligence developing at a disproportional rate to his emotional / sexual 'intelligence' (if you will). This leads to Charlie often describing women based on how attractive they are. It makes sense, but it didn't mean I was any less annoyed about it. I also kind of felt bad for Alice in this book, she was kind of treated like shit whilst Charlie was trying to banish the fear instilled in him by his mother, but then she came straight back. It just kind of rubbed me up the wrong way to hear about how attractive every woman he met was. Is it so much to ask to have a decent female character in a classic sci-fi novel?
Little rant over, I want to rate this book 4.5 stars. I enjoyed it immensely and would strongly recommend it, however I don't think it will make it in with my very favourite books.
I really enjoyed the themes discussed in this book and I found them so incredibly relatable. It is particularly heartbreaking to see how Charlie is being abused and laughed at when he isn't capable of knowing better. I also picked up on some things that made me wonder if Charlie may have been autistic / on the autism spectrum, especially one scene where he remarks how his old teacher used to tie his hands around his chair to stop him fidgeting (I feel like this may have been a stim.) The moment with him attempting to learn how to make the bread rolls at the bakery was probably one of my favourite scenes, as it is one of the most detailed sections where we see how Charlie's brain used to function, and how he could learn but the impatience and lack of encouragement from others made it almost impossible. This scene really presses the need to be patient with people and recognise that all people learn differently. I also enjoyed the scene where Charlie gets drunk at the conference and argues with Nemur. I hate to use a cliche, but this book is very thought-provoking.
I had a couple of issues with the book though. Firstly, I felt like the pace dropped a bit near the middle of the book and my interest definitely started to wane a bit. This book is kind of plotless and winding, with lots of random flashbacks. This isn't necessarily a downside, but I didn't feel like the great quotes scattered throughout were always enough to completely hold my interest and make me feel inclined to pick it up. This is especially true because of my second point: the blurb and synopsis for this book I always see is way to spoiler-y
My last complaint is the female representation. I understand that a large part of this novel is around Charlie's intelligence developing at a disproportional rate to his emotional / sexual 'intelligence' (if you will). This leads to Charlie often describing women based on how attractive they are. It makes sense, but it didn't mean I was any less annoyed about it. I also kind of felt bad for Alice in this book, she was kind of treated like shit whilst Charlie was trying to banish the fear instilled in him by his mother, but then she came straight back. It just kind of rubbed me up the wrong way to hear about how attractive every woman he met was. Is it so much to ask to have a decent female character in a classic sci-fi novel?
Little rant over, I want to rate this book 4.5 stars. I enjoyed it immensely and would strongly recommend it, however I don't think it will make it in with my very favourite books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Child abuse
Minor: Death, Dementia, Grief, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
onamoonbeam's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
THAT'S THE ENDING???
love it when media sets up a premise so well you know where it's going but you're still holding on to the hope it won't happen somehow. the last bit clenched my heart and spit it out like a prune. fuckkk
i realize that i got a bit of a different experience with this book because i listened to the audiobook and therefore didn't see charlie's spelling change over time. however i do think that worked in my favor in a way bc i took his thoughts more seriously from the beginning than i think i would have if just reading it and i wasn't frustrated. as someone who grew up praised for my intelligence having an epistolary novel from the perspective of someone whose intelligence and emotions wildly change... hit hard.
skimmed the short story that was the beginning of this. although it's much tighter and gets through a lot i think the full novel deals a lot more with the variety of human connections and how intelligence connects to that. the audiobook narrator did a really good job of making charlie sound different before and after the operation and emphasizing his emotions
with such an elegant name i did not expect so much of this to be about abuse. but god. flashbacks done well
it's always clear how charlie/charles can see the other version of himself. that's neat
god. algernon. the way he's an object of sympathy, a marker of progress, a friend to be saved, a being to be tested, a tragic prophecy
the desperation in the last few chapters when you just see charlie trying to hold on... not quite knowing what happened before
i realize that i got a bit of a different experience with this book because i listened to the audiobook and therefore didn't see charlie's spelling change over time. however i do think that worked in my favor in a way bc i took his thoughts more seriously from the beginning than i think i would have if just reading it and i wasn't frustrated. as someone who grew up praised for my intelligence having an epistolary novel from the perspective of someone whose intelligence and emotions wildly change... hit hard.
skimmed the short story that was the beginning of this. although it's much tighter and gets through a lot i think the full novel deals a lot more with the variety of human connections and how intelligence connects to that. the audiobook narrator did a really good job of making charlie sound different before and after the operation and emphasizing his emotions
with such an elegant name i did not expect so much of this to be about abuse. but god. flashbacks done well
it's always clear how charlie/charles can see the other version of himself. that's neat
god. algernon. the way he's an object of sympathy, a marker of progress, a friend to be saved, a being to be tested, a tragic prophecy
the desperation in the last few chapters when you just see charlie trying to hold on... not quite knowing what happened before
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
Moderate: Abandonment and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
celevstial's review
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Ableism
Moderate: Animal death and Death