Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Normal People by Sally Rooney

316 reviews

estelleidekreads's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

read the trigger warnings ppl!
honestly i was not really expecting to like this but i did. it does what it says on the tin - just feels very real. i liked that the book is called normal people and yet the MCs wish they were normal as they feel other bc that’s just it - there’s no such thing as “normal”.

i do this the depiction of BDSM is quite problematic like !!! safe words !!! pls !!!

i do think it would have been more powerful to have C & M end up engaging in properly safe & actually consensual BDSM at the end vs going from abuse disguised as BDSM to “vanilla” sex. but then again i also think Rooney was very clever when she hinted that C might actually want to be dominant in that way (can’t remember where or what exactly he thinks but it’s the bit where he’s like “i could hit her holy shit”) and then ar the end he’s seemingly the “good guy”. i should really go back and check my kindle highlights but i’ve got shingles and feel like shite so that’ll have to be good enough 😂

i thought the mental illness bits were very realistic, including the fact that M’s ED is never really addressed and seemingly flies under the radar other than a couple comments about her being very thin these days.

the ending makes sense because:
a. life’s events are rarely neatly tied off with little bows. shit happens & keeps going until we die. in this sense it’s very realistic
b. it just makes sense with their character development. i wouldn’t have believed a HEA with where they’re at in their lives they’ve just got so much unhealed trauma & unresolved issues. and yes they've grown but not enough to break the perpetual cycle they’ve been stuck in.

but i absolutely hated it. i’m an open ending hater to my core and it was just SO annoying! these kids need so much therapy and honestly idc what people say, they’re toxic together. ITS NOT HEALTHY!!!

i reckon this is one of these books that’ll just stay with me which is defo props to the author. still mad about the lack of quotation marks tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Toxic friendship

minor TW for a predatory teacher flirting with a 17/18 year old also a lot of dubcon

linthemountains's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and Gaslighting

itsaromance's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

Expected a romcom, found a deep and emotional story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Rooney is such a good writer, and I love her style! I just wish the ending wasn’t so ambiguous and abrupt, and I wish I had gotten to see Marianne blossom at least as much as Connell since the book was supposed to be about the both of them growing up, growing apart, finding each other again, etc. But it was pretty much all about Connell and then sometimes Rooney remembered that Marianne has thoughts and feelings, too.

Marianne and Connell’s relationship is so fascinating though. It is so incredibly toxic, yet they clearly belong together at the same time. I think that their relationship is realistically portrayed, and I could sympathize with one or the other of them at different stages in their lives and their relationship. I think that is a testament to Rooney’s writing: feeling like I want/need to evaluate the characters, to pick a side, and to sympathize and empathize with them and why.

However, I hated the ending. Ambiguous endings infuriate me, especially when the ambiguity suggests what it suggests here. We’re really ending with

Marianne staking her worth on her on-again, off-again boyfriend and putting him above her and “letting him go” so he can, what? Some bullshit about how she’s a springboard from which his life can “truly begin”

?

Before I read the last ⅓ of the book, I was expecting to give it a 4 out of 5, but seeing Marianne’s storyline and the ending get fumbled leads me to give it a 3 out of 5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rhubarbpi3's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

2.0

I thought this was well executed and everything I just thought it would be happy but it just made me really sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hduc's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

regina_184's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

3.5

I know that Sally Rooney's books are highly celebrated, but at first I found the third person writing style to be difficult to read, especially since she doesn't use quotation marks for dialogue. But over time I got more used to it and more interested in the characters!

I liked the relationship between the two main characters but I have to admit the last 3rd of the book was pretty sad, and because of that I had to decrease the rating. 

This was probably done because both characters experienced trauma and the author likely wanted to show that you can't outrun your problems. But since the characters were much happier before, it leaves the reader wondering why they couldn't recover again. Honestly it's quite depressing because it implies that you cannot grow out of your trauma and it will come back to haunt you. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Grief

Minor: Eating disorder and Death of parent

sahla's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting

komiification's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Completely devastating how people can love each other so much yet can continue to hurt each other. Can never really talk to each other. Alongside this theme, as well as other points relating to genocide (which is still, upsettingly, relevant to today), and the way people now engage with literature without this political edge, this is, easily a modern classic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Racism, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

xveronica_fx's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail