Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

52 reviews

itsnotsarah's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The overall tone of this book is very depressing, which is not really surprising given the topic, but I would still advise against reading this book if you are currently not feeling so well already or if something traumatic has happened to you recently. Chances are pretty high that this one would make it worse (it did for me). 
The heavy drinking and alcoholism of many characters was very triggering for me, but I had to read this book for one of my university classes. I think it is a good book, if you want to know what it felt like living in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, but otherwise just depressing and uncomfortable to read. 
The main relationship also comes out of nowhere and he is double her age, which is not necessarily bad, but I personally didn’t like it. Especially since it’s also

Spoiler

an affair

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Death

Minor: Miscarriage

phoevincent's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Infidelity, Self harm, Violence, Mental illness, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Police brutality, Stalking, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, and Murder

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This one didn't upend my brain, but I liked it. I think it's an interesting look at survival during basically wartime. Everyone has to keep moving, but it also feels impossible to do so. I didn't love Cushla, but I don't think I had to, and maybe it created a nice separation to be able to look at the whole story. I DID love the precious little boy at school. And I do tend to like a little forbidden romance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Death, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Stalking

doireann_ni_chaoimh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Bullying, Alcoholism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Cursing, Death of parent, Classism, Police brutality, Infertility, Hate crime, and Grief

rad_reads_123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Bullying, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Infertility, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

lcg527's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Bullying, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Murder, Infidelity, and Grief

jacs63's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Can't recommend this book enough.
Best read of the year for me, so far. 
Totally deserves all the nominations and rewards. 
The writing is exquisite.
A tragic and heartbreaking, historical love story, on so many different levels of love. 
The characters are flawed but loveable. The story is so....real. 
As Cushla says at one point...'This is going to end badly...' and you know it will. 
It's doomed from the start. The age gap, the different religions, the troubles in Ireland, he's married with a child....and a serial adulterer. The decisions you make. The coincidences. The lies and deceit. 

It made me feel guilty that, as someone of recent Irish descent- 3 generations back-I haven't tried to read more about the 'Trouble in Ireland'. I am out to find some good books to read now. I lived in the UK till 1974 so I remember a fair bit. 

Couldn't put it down once I started it. 
I hope Louise Kennedy writes more books soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Torture, War, Addiction, Blood, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Murder, Bullying, Death, Medical content, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racism, Religious bigotry, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Police brutality, and Racial slurs

jennikreads's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity

library_kb's review against another edition

challenging sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I think I might have been able to enjoy this more if I had a better understanding of Irish history, but I really struggled to understand what was going on, especially when slang terms were used. I would have been able to push through that issue if I had cared about the characters, but I found Cushla highly frustrating to follow. She kept making awful choices, recognized that they were awful, and then just kept making them? At one point, it seemed like she was justifying her relationship because her home life wasn't great, but at the same time, she recognized her participation in the relationship was putting others in her shoes. Overall, I struggled with this one, and don't have a ton that I really enjoyed, but people who like character focused and "literary" works might enjoy this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Violence