Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

21 reviews

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

5.0

Mmm delectable

Lots of little twists that made the plot more interesting and the characters more dimensional
The dual narrative was also very effective with the voices being clearly seperate

‘But stories are told in hindsight. Stories are life lived backward.’

‘They had been conditioned to believe they were not enough, and were so focused on self improvement they forgot about their inherent perfection.’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

perlaesq's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

It took me 100 pages to get into the book. The meta-book format rubbed me the wrong way at first. However, the thoughtfulness and compassion of the author was evident, and it led to a fun book club discussion. It read like a book I'd read in middle or high school. It could have been maybe 200 pages shorter. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

orlagal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sponberry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child abuse

itsbumley's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual violence

bookish_history's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

alicelalicon's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

daydreamereyes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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: Mental illness, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Fatphobia

librarianlayla's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

If you're looking for a book that has a lot of emotional range, but not overly littered with joy or hope - then this is for you.

Whilst beautifully written, raw and real - there wasn't a lot of light within this book. It holds a lot of pain, confusion and loss.

This book is designed to make you feel and to think on a broader spectrum. Less about enjoyment and more about emotional expansion within the realm of sorrow.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

heidi_meredith's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

I liked the way this challenged perceptions of mental illness, yet I also wondered if there were elements of the "Just pull your socks up" attitude, which can be unhelpful, although it worked for the storyline and character development. 

I loved the writing style and cast of characters, especially the mother-son relationship and its bittersweetness, with the changes of adolescence and their shared grief. For me, it spoke deeply about our relationships with the objects around us and the value we impute to them. I enjoyed seeing the parallel journey of mother and son in this, with the mother often imputing personality or intent to objects in a way that her son was also experiencing through his mental illness. This ties in with conversations the son has with his friends regarding the nature of mental illness and where the boundaries for 'normal' are set. 

I found this book hopeful and accepting of those on the fringes of society. It seems to seek connection and beauty in lives otherwise adversely affected by trauma, grief and illness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Fatphobia and Violence

Minor: Child abuse