Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

La strada by Cormac McCarthy

8 reviews

lyfeistrip's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Body horror, Genocide, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Cannibalism, Sexism, Cursing, and Terminal illness

avilareads'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

heartbreaking, with a running current of hopelessness. some of the most beautiful prose i have ever read. truly a masterclass on apocalyptic fiction. 

i have some issues with the ending, i felt like it did not align with the themes and ideas that had been set up by the entire book. but honestly, aside from the last 5 pages, it was a perfect novel in every respect.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pedophilia, Child death, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Rape and Vomit

bookish_bry's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. It was incredibly bleak, but there was also some burning embers of hope on almost every page. I really liked the relationship between the father and son. The father was really trying hard to raise his child the best he could even in a world of death and suffering.

The apocalypse itself didn't always make the most sense. It wasn't really steeped in much reality, but that didn't detract from the story too much. I really liked the writing style, but that comes from having listened to its audiobook. Judging by the other reviews, there may be some style choices that could have made it hard to read a physical copy. The audiobook however was great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Murder, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

The canabolism is pretty bad through the book. This includes the main characters stumbling across a baby being cooked. There are many dead bodies. Also, the characters almost starve to death a few times.

cstein's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Prescient, disturbing, and sad, occasionally funny, often beautiful, full of (human) nature and faith. Images that stick in your head. Not as completely bleak as I feared and not as violent as some of McCarthy's other works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Child death, Confinement, Medical content, Violence, Cannibalism, Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Minor: Ableism

owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

"What would you do if I died?"
"If you died I would want to die too."
"So you could be with me?"
"Yes. So I could be with you."
"Okay."

McCarthy is so incredibly talented. This was a horrifying book. I will never be the same.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Slavery, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Suicidal thoughts

hope419's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

2.5

I have extremely mixed feelings about this book. 

First, I found it difficult to get through as much of its content is mundane in nature. I understand its purpose, as it lulls you into a false sense of security before being met with some absolutely horrific imagery and moments of terror. 

To say this novel is bleak would be an understatement. It is suffocating. However, for all of its darkness, there is beauty and tenderness. The relationship between the man and the boy is complex, yet nothing short of endearing. There is something so beautiful, yet heart-wrenching about a man desperately attempting to maintain his son's childlike goodness in the face of gut-wrenching gore and devastation. It is this concept, which McCarthy executes flawlessly, that gives this book the three stars it earned. 

So, while it is a novel I will probably never read again (for the sake of my own innocence and sanity), I cannot say that it isn't brilliant in its own unique way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Suicide attempt, Violence, Pedophilia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

laurenparham's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia

clarissajs's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

0.5

I wasn't really sure how to rate this one. I finished it, fairly quickly too, so I must have enjoyed it to some degree. Although, it was a short story and it didn't have any chapters or sections, so maybe it didn't take long for that reason.

I didn't find myself unable to put it down or impatient to get back to it. I think I just wanted to finish it so I could start a new book. I said to my partner last night that "I kept waiting for them to explain what happened leading up to this story, by the time I realised that wasn't going to happen, I had less than 100 pages left and thought I may as well finish it."

It was short, continuous and repetitive. You don't find out much about anything, the plot and characters are like poorly kept secrets, that you only get little bits of through the book. Overall, I would rate it as okay. I wouldn't recommend it.

This story could've been something amazing, it could have been a political statement on climate change or something (the world literally burnt). Instead, it left a lot to question and even more to our imaginations. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death, Grief, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence