Reviews tagging Death of parent

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon

30 reviews

sarahkinney's review

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

While in 2003, the book was praised for autistic representation - the author's claim that he did not research the topic while writing the book is apparent while reading. Despite this, the book is an easy read, with a unique writing style and the twist is presented excellently. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, and Infidelity

joymia24's review

mysterious reflective

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Cursing and Death of parent

Minor: Emotional abuse

rucha_s's review

emotional funny hopeful informative medium-paced

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

3.75

The best thing about this book was the narration from the POV of a protagonist who is autistic. It made the reading challenging, confusing, frustrating but simultaneously rewarding. Mark Haddon has done a remarkable job of creating one of the most memorable protagonists I've come across and that singular point makes this a dazzling read. 

Now for what I didn't find appealing - That this book is classified as a murder mystery, however, the murderer is revealed at about the 50% mark which was way too soon! Once this reveal occurs, it is all about another subplot, which although in itself is rather interesting, it also kind of takes away the essence of the book being a murder mystery :/ 

Final words - Worth a read simply for the character of Christopher Boone. Also worth noting that the narration is lacking the usual sentence structure and punctuation - that is just to add to the authenticity of the experience, however, some readers might find this off putting. Do skip this book if you're looking for an easy feel good read. While it is feel good, it is certainly not an easy read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Excrement, Animal death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

fairy_gardenn's review

adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Infidelity, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Vomit

jfield351's review

challenging lighthearted reflective fast-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

3.0

It was okay. Interesting to get inside Christopher’s mind and see the world as he sees it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit and Cursing

Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Bullying

Minor: Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, and Animal death

i found certain parts disgusting like how he cleaned his hands with spit that made me uncomfortable

ageckocalledachilles's review

funny sad fast-paced

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

2.0

I found this book funny and cool when I first read it at 11 years old, but since then I have grown up and come to realise that it wasn't that great.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

Christopher is treated with mingled pity and irritation by the author, to the extent that his father is portrayed as 'the reasonable parent' (he hits Christopher at several points. That's literal child abuse.) The portrayal of autism is accurate in places, but in others comes off as stereotyped and poorly researched. In summary, if you're gonna write a book where the adults treat a child like shit, don't imply that it's justified bc their disability is 'just so hard to deal with'.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Violence

jeremie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Ableism, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent and Child abuse

kitschykody's review

i was really resonating with the representation of the mc but then found out it was all based on stereotypes and the author did no research. UGH. felt gross abt it so i didn’t finish it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty

marinapaso11's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Violence

alexisgarcia's review

reflective fast-paced

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

2.0

While I thoroughly enjoyed being able to read this book through the perspective of someone with Autism, I really did not enjoy the plot or characters. there were also some racist undertones and micro aggressions. like when dreadlocks are explained they’re explained as dirty? and i can’t tell if that’s to allude to the locational and overall racism in the world and how the main character absorbs the info he’s fed or if it’s just straight up racism. so it was a little educational but not my fave unfortunately  

Spoiler

like the mom??? she talked about how much she missed him, how broken up she was about it, and how much she regretted the way she treated him. but then when he started acting in ways that she didn’t like she did the same thing as before.. and i feel like we also glazed over the fact that because the dad was upset he killed a dog??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence