Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

8 reviews

oceanebooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I am destroyed. The language is beyond beautiful and the story beyond sad. I’ll keep on thinking about this for a long time. Really loved how the ambivalence of it all, the flaws of all the characters were portrayed in such a human and their almost desperate-to-be-good way. I really loved the end when the author wrote: “you can’t force someone to love you the way you want to be loved.” It’s a common phrase but in this context of this book it was so bittersweet. So fucking bittersweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Abandonment

Moderate: Homophobia and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Vomit, Police brutality, and Death of parent

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-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? No

5.0

An encapsulating story of being queer in the 1980s under socialist rule. While I was expecting a heartfelt summer romance, I also learned a lot about Poland’s politics and demographics in the 70s and 80s, the religious and communist themes throughout the country in spite of the end of German control. 

This is a very moving tale of love within the forbidden and hidden, of innocence lost and found, of the duality of cruelty and kindness in humanity. 

The writing is beautiful, like poetry, flowing like streams of consciousness from our protagonist, Ludwik, intent on finding himself in the world. His inner turmoil over his attraction to the same sex, his struggles with opening up to someone, his freedom from the Party’s ideologies. His love for Janusz and his lust for a different life. My heart broke for him in his journey for happiness and truth. I desperately wanted to give him a hug.

A melancholy novel rich with history and emotional ups and downs. Simply excellent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Pregnancy

danajoy's review against another edition

reflective sad

4.0

Beautifully written, gentlely melancholic and told in a striking second person.
I feel like I have to read Giovanni's Room now.

I love reading books set in places and time periods I don't know much about. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Vomit, and War

kwichris's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.75

I typically don't like reading books that center around romance. This book, however, managed to embed historical context and emotionally complex situations that added more to this story than a simple romance that cannot be. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I found myself relating to or finding understanding in the main character's reactions/feelings/thoughts regarding the situation they find themselves in - a love that they cannot express publicly, a country divided post-war, and uncertainty of their own future. For a first entry, the author has crafted quite a nice story, and I would recommend it to anyone that likes a little historical context and input that shapes the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Outing, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Vomit, Police brutality, and Medical content

rieviolet's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

I appreciated the setting because it focused on a time and place (Poland in the 1980s) that I am almost completely unfamiliar with and it was very interesting to be immersed in it, even if briefly.
I quite liked the narrator's voice and I think that the author was very good at handling Ludwik's emotional journey, the final chapters especially hit me right in the feels, harder than I thought they would.

However, there were some plot points that I found a little bit weird

for example, the drugged soup and the hallucinated stroll in the woods, okay I guess?!

.
Also, I think that at times the language was a tad overwritten and going a bit too heavy on metaphors and similes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Sexism, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and War

fatfrog's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use and Vomit

elioreadsbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book is an ideological crisis wrapped in a love story. The difference between the two main characters is presented primarily through their opinions on the government they live under and how they survive in it. It’s very well written

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Violence, and Antisemitism

Minor: Vomit

garynoplastie's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Outing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Police brutality, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Death of parent