Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Holes by Louis Sachar

10 reviews

feline17ff's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

So I read Holes and the Tumblr post was right!
From a technical perspective it's so cool and perfect! Every single thing comes back somehow or other, slevery little detail which you think is just for description or a joke.
YES, ESPECIALLY THE JOKES!
The reader keeps getting rewarded for each line of text they read previously and remember.
It's an amazing and beautiful book that makes you cry. It's about love, both romantic and platonic.
It's really smart, if you didn't get it already.
It's like a Chosen One book but not but yes.
The Chosen Ones come together to work together and break the curse on a land they don't even know that was cursed because of bad people a hundred years ago.
It's about destiny and love and doing the right thing and helping others and about children being harshly punished for things that they dd or didn't do, that were in or out fo their control, that they happened to just be in the wrong place at the wrong time or in the wrong situation
It's about stupid America's stupid racism and stupid war on homeless people and poor people and stupid broken systems and stupid government punishment and and stupid lack of accountability and stupid misogyny too.
It's a happy ending and not just a bittersweet ending, a happy ending which seems less and less possible as the story goes but it is a happy ending and I am grateful.

Another thing.
From a writing perspective.
It uses short sentences and is fast-paced and a short book, which might be the definition of a middle grade book.
As an amateur writer, it's cool to see this in action. Each line packs a punch and the shortness makes sure it hits. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lovelynovellas's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

orchidlilly's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Bullying

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, and Alcohol

alicia_g's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book!!! It was really great and a nice quick read, I finished it in 2 days! The ending was not really that great-mostly just the last couple of pages but otherwise really good! (Also I loved the parts about Sam and Katherine!!!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

nota_candycaine's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

adoto's review against another edition

funny reflective fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Death

noseybonk's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Gun violence, and Vomit

lily_k8y's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring 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

I really enjoyed this book, all the way to the ending. I've been getting used to incomplete or unsatisfactory endings but this one left me satisfied when I turned the last page. Don't know if I would have appreciated the book as a child though with it's darker humour. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

wolfiegrrrl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

The first time I read this book, I was in middle school and I fell in love with it. I loved the underdog story and how all of the plot lines were revealed to be so intricately interwoven. More than a decade later, I uncovered my copy and rereading it still brought me the same feelings of enthusiasm and interest that I remembered from my first experience with it.

Through the story, the author has a lot to say about racism, classism, the prison pipeline, and the exploitative nature of detainment centers. There is also an impressive smattering of commentary about the things adults do and say that (either intentionally or unintentionally) leave a lasting negative impression on how children view themselves. As an adult with a more informed perspective on these topics, I now understand how a story set in Texas turned out to have all of these elements, so I found myself stopping to let certain details sink in that I know I missed as a kid. I think the fact that it isn't preachy, instead painting a straightforward picture for the readers and saying "you decide if this is right or wrong," is what imprinted this story on my heart.

I only recently learned that there is a sequel and I am looking forward to seeing what happened to the other boys from Camp Green Lake!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Blood, Vomit, and Murder