Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Flowers for Algernon

I actually liked this a lot. Charlie's journey is inspiring! Damn, what happened was mad. I mean, he started as mentally challenged and ended the same way. Amazing! I mean, his dream of becoming smart happened, but it's not as glittery as he thought.

Remembering a lot of painful memories sucked. There's a reason why the unconscious is there to help us cope with life's greatest challenges. Being knowledgeable has its perks and curses.

Experiments may be magical, but not an assurance of permanence. It's like being sharp, but we need to maintain it in our own way.

Algernon! You're a great metaphor!

I will never forget this story.

Thank you, Daniel✨

Content Warnings

charliebites's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.5

Content Warnings

g3mmons's review

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challenging dark 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

3.5

Content Warnings

peakstar's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

izzykai's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

Content Warnings

sharktwoth's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

bookishfaye's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

I think there are things about this book for its time that are important & in some ways foundational in literature depicting disability; however, man oh man does this NOT hold up well over time. From the violently ableist language used repeatedly, to the constant misogyny and overall written by a man vibes this book simply does not age well.

I think as a response to Frankenstein/the Prometheus myth and with commentary about man playing god within science and also monstrosity, there are some interesting things at play within this book. There were moments where I felt very seen by Charlie, and at times very beautiful/important language towards disability as well, it’s just a very very hard read that has extreme ableism/misogyny culture from the late 1950’s marked all over it.

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dazedl's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

How will i ever recover from the emotional whirlwind this book has sent me? 😭😭😭

I read the short story years ago when I was a teenager - and coming back to this book in my mid 20s, I have a newfound appreciation towards the central themes of childhood trauma, intellectual disability and messing with someone's true nature. I found myself having deeper empathy and understanding towards Charlie's character development more than my first reading of the short story.

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