Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Test by Sylvain Neuvel

14 reviews

odius_hades's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Blood and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and War

sarahbythebook's review against another edition

dark

5.0

read on El's (ermreading) recommendation

Holy shit. 

This one needs time to process more, but the single most terrifying element of this novella is that I could easily see this becoming the reality of citizenship tests in the not-so-distant future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape, War, and Deportation

justagremlin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

 

This was the first audiobook I’ve listened to, and I REALLY recommend this on audiobook! There is so much emotion in the narrator’s voice.

The book is also fairly funny in some parts but is equally as dark. The gunman actually has some fairly funny quips here and there which translate very well into an audiobook form

 

I’ve seen a lot of reviews say it gives <i>Black Mirror</i> vibes, and while I’ve never watched it, based on what I know of Black Mirror I would be inclined to agree. 

Recommend for: Sci-Fi dystopian lovers who want a short commentary on xenophobia and biases 

4.25/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child abuse and Fatphobia

Child Abuse:

Slight mention of a child getting slapped. Character was immediately remorseful of what he did

Blood/Death/Death of Parent/Gun Violence/Mass Shooting/Violence:

Many people are killed by a gunman including a mother sacrificing herself for her son

Emotional abuse/Mental Illness/Panic Attack/Disorder:

MC is left with PTSD after his test.

Fatphobia:

Gunman makes some hateful quips about someone’s size, however he’s a gunman so its not exactly the worst of his crimes

Grief:

Man is DEVASTATED after the death of his wife

Racism/Xenophobia

The novel explores biases especially in regards to immigration

opplecopter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Meet Idir. An Iranian man sitting for the British Citizenship Test. He’s brought his wife and two children along with him to wait while he answers 25 multiple choice questions that will determine their future. He feels confident in his ability to pass, but the test is unexpectedly interrupted and Idir is immediately plunged into a nightmare where the questions asked of him shift into life and death. 

This is one of those books that left me speechless. I had to sit and think on it for a minute after finishing. At barely over 100 pages this little dystopian novella packs a punch with its mixture of thriller/sci-fi/psychological flavors going on. It gave me strong Black Mirror vibes and although I think the story wrapped up perfectly in those short pages, I’m honestly so sad it wasn’t longer because I wanted more! This was incredible and really makes you reflect on topics like the numerous and sometimes ridiculous requirements involved in immigration, how we determine the value of human lives, what choices we would make in situations when the options presented seem impossible, and how our choices ripple out and impact the lives of others. If you’re looking for something to really get into your head and make you ask “what would I do?” then this is for you. I can’t say much without spoiling the plot, but this is truly worth reading. My first 5 star book of the new year and one of the best I’ve read hands down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Deportation

Minor: Child abuse

cosmicpanda's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Medical content, Abortion, and Alcohol

cheyrohm's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Wow wow wow. This had me locked in from start to finish. Short fiction done right. It feels like anything I say about this book will spoil the experience so I will simply say, go read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Gun violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Child abuse

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

A high tech, virtual reality horror

that discusses social issues such as immigration and citizenship. I went into this expecting a literal test and I was pleasantly surprised by the actual concept of this novella. It really paints a picture of what the UK could become if UKIP (or another far right, nationalist party) were to win an election in the distant future. The extreme nationalism, xenophobia and lack of human empathy was disturbing to read. The fixation on data and numbers taking priority over human safety and wellbeing is an issue we are presently dealing with as a country. To read pages upon pages of this was horrifying, nevermind experiencing it in real life and being subjected to dehumanising screenings of worthiness. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Deportation

blackcatkai's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I need to get my thoughts in order before I can properly review this one. RTC

UPDATE! i never did quite get my thoughts in order then i forgot to come back. overall, this one started strong but i didnt quite care for the middle or ending of this one. it wasnt bad, just bits here and there that threw me out of the story.

CW:  Gun violence, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Fatphobia/body shaming, grief, murder, casual ableism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Grief

Minor: Ableism

nannahnannah's review against another edition

2.0

Ah … this one started off so good, but quickly became very unenjoyable to read. But I've seen others liken this novella to the show Black Mirror, and I can absolutely see why. If you haven’t already read something like this, you may enjoy it.

Representation:
- the main protagonist is Muslim and an immigrant from Iran
- the other PoV character is a first-generation Indian-British citizen

In a near-future “dystopian” UK, Idir Jalil takes the British Citizenship Test. But he’s barely begun when a shooter bursts in and takes him and the other test takers hostage. And when Idir draws attention to himself, he finds himself forced to choose which people die when the shooter decides to take lives.

I love the beginning. The first few chapters have such a compelling and distinct voice. But then the shooter comes into play -- and worse, the “twist” happens (I’m not sure if I can really call it a twist, because it comes so early in the story! I didn’t actually know it was supposed to be one, either, until I went back to the book’s goodreads page). In the end, another goodreads review sums it up best:

”If you forcibly put someone through a [traumatic] event, they will be traumatized. The concept fell fully flat ….”

The author also bashes me over the head with one lesson in morality (and psychology) after another. It’s exhausting, even if I mostly agree with what he says (how did reverse racism and pro-cop sentiments get in there, though? No, please!). The shooter is obnoxiously childish, too, his dialogue almost laughable at times. And at one point, the prose was filled with so much telling, I forgot this was an actual published piece of work (the typo was there in the text, too): 

“Deep is upset. He’s not thinking about himself at this point. [...] What Deep is experiencing is just narcissistic identification and a very strong case of narrative transportation. At this point, Deep is incapable of separating Idir’s success of failure from his own. He’s so caught up in the simulation that his feelings and opinions are filtered through the rules of the game.”

I’m being extremely critical, I’m sorry. I just didn’t see the mind-bending, mind-blowing critique of immigration I was hoping for.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Islamophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexism

also: being drugged

dealingwithdragons's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Dementia, and Abortion