Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

19 reviews

indohyus's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.5

I picked this up from the library during Banned Books Week. It was very good, and I quite enjoyed the narration's unwavering commitment to the protagonist's perspective. The book would not be the same without it. Thanks to this choice, as well as the matter-of-fact way the protagonist describes all that is relevant, I found myself empathizing strongly with him. I found many of the behaviors and thought patterns he exhibited are ones that I too experience in some circumstances. I appreciated that this book gave me a window into the perspective of another person who is both very close to and distant from myself, not only learning how he navigates life's complex challenges but also how he sees the biggest and smallest parts of the world-- cars, cows, creation, time, space. This book is written at a suitable level for audiences as young as middle-grade, and beyond serving as a means of empathy, I think this book could be a very useful tool for exploring what a novel can be and learning how to analyze a fictional text that provides a limited perspective. I would very roughly guess that took me 10 hours to read this book from cover to cover. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Infidelity, Violence, Excrement, and Vomit

Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lucyrudd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

meliacartin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

itsatyepo's review against another edition

dark informative slow-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

0.5

A shocking representation of autistic people by a writer who said that “imagination trumps research” in response when asked if he did any research on autism. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

vanessatombolini's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Excrement, and Vomit

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

gellyreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

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

3.0

This is okay. I like what it's trying to do, but I feel like the way Christopher talks doesn't seem accurate for a 15 year old? He seems too young? I know he's neurodivergent, but there's plenty of people how are who don't seem so young? IDK. It just didn't sit right with me. That and the dad being... too much.

Why did he kill the fucking dog? I have no idea. That seems more unhinged than just lying about the wife you are trying to divorce being dead to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, and Abandonment

scoads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

A book with more than a few problems and an interesting yet problematic take on autistic stereotypes in young boys, but a very compelling and suspenseful story told from an interesting perspective, very close to my heart.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Self harm, Police brutality, Dementia, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

elzmri's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, and Infidelity

Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

daybreakreads's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I would describe it as “cute”. I listened to the audiobook, but I know the physical book has illustrations that might have made it more endearing. I was looking for something similar to The Maid by Nita Prose or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine in the sense that I love socially awkward narrators. In comparison, the narrator here feels much less well-rounded and developed and more of a stereotype of autism rather than a real person. It was still cute and endearing, but it was hard to feel real connection or empathy to a one-sided character. There isn’t a lot of plot; it’s mainly focused on showing how the narrator sees the world and interacts with it so much differently than the rest of us. It’s just hard to enjoy that kind of book when the narrator is hard to love. Ending was a bit cute but that’s it really.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Mental illness

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail