Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Holes by Louis Sachar

33 reviews

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A tall tale about tall tales, in a juvenile detention facility, with a real-life curse, a weird rock formation, buried treasure, and all kinds of other things. Some fatphobia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Bullying and Fatphobia

Minor: Abandonment

asourceoffiction's review

adventurous dark funny 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

What a strange, unique, occasionally horrifying book! The story is so bizarre but played so normally that you just accept that this is part of our everyday world. It gets very dark on occasion (brilliantly so; the Warden is such an insidious presence), but there's genuine warmth and great humour.

I was so invested in the history of Camp Green Lake and I loved all the little revelatory moments where you can see connections forming between the past and present. So many times I would get to a sentence that made me stop and go "oh, I get it now", and every time it made me love it a bit more. It's a fantastic little story, and I'll definitely be checking out the film and Sachar's other books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Confinement

mr_cain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read this in fifth grade and it's underrated. Top 10 novels that make your kids hate prisons but LOVE romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, and Grief

nota_candycaine's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lucy12345's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Child abuse

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Fatphobia and Gun violence

adoto's review against another edition

funny reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Death

morganperks's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Bullying, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Death, Fatphobia, and Blood

lily_k8y's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, all the way to the ending. I've been getting used to incomplete or unsatisfactory endings but this one left me satisfied when I turned the last page. Don't know if I would have appreciated the book as a child though with it's darker humour. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

mengzhenreads's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Super entertaining and just absolutely delightful. I had so much fun reading this book and it definitely will be one I'll be revisiting!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Child abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Death, and Fatphobia

wolfiegrrrl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

The first time I read this book, I was in middle school and I fell in love with it. I loved the underdog story and how all of the plot lines were revealed to be so intricately interwoven. More than a decade later, I uncovered my copy and rereading it still brought me the same feelings of enthusiasm and interest that I remembered from my first experience with it.

Through the story, the author has a lot to say about racism, classism, the prison pipeline, and the exploitative nature of detainment centers. There is also an impressive smattering of commentary about the things adults do and say that (either intentionally or unintentionally) leave a lasting negative impression on how children view themselves. As an adult with a more informed perspective on these topics, I now understand how a story set in Texas turned out to have all of these elements, so I found myself stopping to let certain details sink in that I know I missed as a kid. I think the fact that it isn't preachy, instead painting a straightforward picture for the readers and saying "you decide if this is right or wrong," is what imprinted this story on my heart.

I only recently learned that there is a sequel and I am looking forward to seeing what happened to the other boys from Camp Green Lake!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Blood, Vomit, and Murder