Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Die Insel der Unschuldigen by Jess Kidd

24 reviews

lauramcc7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Rape, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

billyjepma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

There’s a lot to like here—striking prose, sharp characterizations, vibes so potent you can feel them sticking on your skin—but it ultimately didn’t work for me as much as I wanted. It’s a very cruel book, for one, with more violence than I expected (that’s on me for going into this without knowing anything about it), which I can usually stomach without a problem. But the cruelty didn’t have the teeth it needed to leave a mark—it’s all blunt and brutal and lacks the intentionality I look for. What’s the violence saying? How does it frame or reframe the themes and characters? I kept looking for a moment to make everything click into place, but I never found it. I’m sure it’s there somewhere, but for whatever reason, it never materialized for me. 

The dual storylines have potential, and the structure of the chapters does an admirable job of bouncing between the two timelines. Some moments had me by the throat and used the back-and-forth pacing to keep me reading longer than planned. Those moments are the exception, though, as I usually gravitated toward the 1989 story, where Kidd’s characterizations are the strongest, and the narrative has the most momentum and stakes. I kept waiting for the two stories to converge, but they didn’t, at least not in a way that satisfied me. They share themes, sure, but when the themes are this broad and, honestly, kind of basic, it left me cold. There’s enough good here that I can’t go lower than a three-star rating, but suffice it to say, this one wasn’t for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Cannibalism

denisedup's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

alexijai98's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

More than anything, The Night Ship is just okay. The concept is interesting, and executed fairly well. Kidd handles the subject matter with grace, and having children as the protagonists brings an interesting perspective to the book. Overall an okay read, but I can’t find myself fervently recommending this to anyone, or rereading it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

localpeachthief's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty

nyne's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault

rebeccafm's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

sarahlizbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death and Suicide

bookmaddie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm always a bit hesitant to read stories told from a child's perspective, but not even the innocence of young eyes can hide the sinister nature of this story. This story is imbued with darkness from page one, like a mist hiding sharp corners and gloomy pathways.

But what makes this novel really shine is how Mayken and Gil's stories weave together. Kidd plays with narrative structure to enhance their connection, allowing them to slowly circle each other as the novel reaches its lethal crescendo. A propulsive, dramatic, heartrending story, but also so full of love that even in its darkest moments, there is a tender light guiding the way. Kidd explores loyalty, betrayal, and power in the face of disaster, wondering how we might choose to live when faced with impossible circumstances.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Rape

spacewhombus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love stories with non-linear timelines, and the structure of this book was wonderful. This book alternates between a progression of Mayken's journey on the Batavia ship in the 17th century, and Gil's stay on a remote coral island off Australia in 1989, where we learn details about his traumatic past. The two stories converge in subtle ways, and I expected there to be some fantasy/magical element but I was actually happy there was not.

I also somehow didn't realize that the events of the Batavia's journey were all based on a true story, and only found out after finishing the book and reading the author's acknowledgements- it definitely hit me then how dark that part of the story was. Though, Gil's story with his mother was also extremely sad. The reviewers who called this book "haunting" were definitely right.

I think I only wish there had been more of an emotional, sob-your-eyes-out moment when reading this, rather than the empty hollow feeling of reading all this dark stuff through the eyes of children. Overall, it was a memorable read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault