Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

16 reviews

water_and_shade's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

Boy Swallows Universe is gritty and soft at the same time. The characters are well fleshed out, flawed but you love and root for them anyway. The descriptions of domestic violence, addiction and poverty are tenderly and empathetically delivered. I did take a while to warm to the book - I really loved the middle third - but also found the ending a bit of a let down, too dramatic and focused on plot twists which I think detracted from the overall pace and gentle build up delivered by the earlier chapters. Dalton really paints a picture with his words, creating an evocative snapshot of Brisbane (my hometown!) in the mid 80's - I could feel the piercing blue sky of QLD summers reading his descriptive passages. Loved the motifs dotted throughout. Overall, a beautiful book with characters that will stick with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Addiction, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Torture, and Mental illness

waybeyondblue's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Blood, and Torture

Moderate: Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

Minor: Vomit, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

atringas's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

4.0

This novel contains multitudes. Truly hard to describe, and honestly I’m struggling to quantify my feels about it myself. Beautiful in its imagery, brutal in its realism, touching, mystical, realistic, exciting, slow, there is a bit of everything going on in “Boy Swallows Universe”.
The book truly reads almost more like a number of smaller novels together as it chronicles the life of Eli Bell, and is mostly stronger for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Misogyny

Moderate: Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

donaldleitch's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

camoo3032's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

1.75

Trent Dalton doesn't shy away from showing the darker bits of Australian society that we rarely get to see. Because this perspective is rarely shown, I would consider this book worth reading. I would warn fellow readers that this makes the book continuously confronting and it is certainly not a lighthearted read.
This provides the backdrop of a story that is far-fetched with descriptive writing that is quite abstract. I am sure there are people out there that would love this book but I found it was trying to be more profound than it actually is.
I also found that the female characters weren't as fully formed or complex as the male ones which is frustrating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Blood, Bullying, Ableism, Addiction, Cursing, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Rape, Torture, Violence, Sexism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Gore, and Sexual assault

meganjeg's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious 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? No

5.0

This is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read which makes it so interesting when the subject matter is around suburban poverty, drugs, abuse and neglect.

For better or worse, I primarily read to be entertained and uplifted and whilst this book is many things, it isn’t those two. So it did take me a few sittings over a number of months to read this book. 

I would recommend spending time with Eli Bell and his dysfunctional family. It’s a coming of age story that swaps out cliches for the realities of generational trauma. Plus, a cracking crime story. 

This book is grim but spectacular. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse and Suicidal thoughts

sneha_srikanth's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

“do your time before it does you” 🐦
Review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZyTZdvJZCY/

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gore, and Violence

ellen_nicholson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug use, Blood, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Alcohol, Car accident, Cursing, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Addiction, and Domestic abuse

babelfish98's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Violence

davidup_15's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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

4.0

Really, really heartwarming despite its dark themes, with one of the best and most uplifting endings I read this year. Eli Bell may be one of my favourite book characters of all time; his relentless desire to be a good man despite all the bad role models he has had, his incredible love for all his family and friends despite their flaws, and his insatiable thirst to tell stories honestly inspire me. The writing of this book is also exquisite; Trent Dalton practices what he preaches in terms of focussing on small details and using that to enhance his storytelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Torture, and Violence