Reviews tagging 'Violence'
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
26 reviews
balfies's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
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? Yes
4.5
Last read this in 2015 - god it's good. The depth of it is so impressive, it's such a tight, well-paced read with exceptional characterisation. Wanted to reread something kind of familiar but also tick off a book from the Year 12 syllabus to refamiliarise myself before I'm in classrooms again next year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Child abuse, Animal death, and Ableism
snrkville's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
A terrible portrayal of autism by an author who has admitted to doing next to no research.
A story about an abused child acting out his trauma and receiving no real sympathy or protection from anyone, ultimately being forced to rely on his abusers for support after they face no consequences whatsoever for heinous and illegal acts of child abuse. And worst of all they are portrayed sympathetically. It’s no wonder that toxic organizations like Autism Speaks endorse it - it reflects the self-pitying attitude of parents who cannot accept their children’s differences because they’re too busy crying over the perfect family they imagine they’d have with a neurotypical child instead of accepting them as they are and providing a safe and loving environment. I don’t think the author even thought that deeply about the story he was writing, to be honest. Yet another stereotypical story about a math genius egotistical autistic kid who feels nothing for anyone, which is completely unrooted in the reality of autistic experience. Not to mention the sadly lacking mystery that the title advertised.
I am sad to learn that middle schoolers are required to read it instead of a story that engages neurodiversity with compassion and knowledge.
A story about an abused child acting out his trauma and receiving no real sympathy or protection from anyone, ultimately being forced to rely on his abusers for support after they face no consequences whatsoever for heinous and illegal acts of child abuse. And worst of all they are portrayed sympathetically. It’s no wonder that toxic organizations like Autism Speaks endorse it - it reflects the self-pitying attitude of parents who cannot accept their children’s differences because they’re too busy crying over the perfect family they imagine they’d have with a neurotypical child instead of accepting them as they are and providing a safe and loving environment. I don’t think the author even thought that deeply about the story he was writing, to be honest. Yet another stereotypical story about a math genius egotistical autistic kid who feels nothing for anyone, which is completely unrooted in the reality of autistic experience. Not to mention the sadly lacking mystery that the title advertised.
I am sad to learn that middle schoolers are required to read it instead of a story that engages neurodiversity with compassion and knowledge.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, and Ableism
Moderate: Animal death
the_procrastinatorinator's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Not sure if the autism representation in this is very good, but it was a quick read
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Animal death
Minor: Car accident and Cursing
mermaidstears's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
it was nice to read a book with an autistic main character and attempting to understand how they work and perceive the world. It was a good book with interesting views.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Excrement, Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Vomit, and Violence
chrisljm's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
3.0
not a mystery, just mostly about how shitty christopher’s parents are
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Infidelity, Excrement, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Ableism, Death, Blood, and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment
samburkhouse's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death and Violence
Minor: Alcohol
adalinemccormick's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Violence and Emotional abuse
technoblade's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.75
This book is not fucking funny if you rated it funny you are only saying that cause he is autistic . This was intensely sad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Ableism, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Violence
lara_r's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Surprising plot twists
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
Moderate: Ableism, Infidelity, Vomit, Murder, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Excrement, Blood, Drug use, and Child abuse
Dead dogcassie7e's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I have mixed feelings about this book. It's bittersweet, and more on the bitter side.
The author kept describing overwhelm as almost purely visual and intellectual, especially with words. While lots of sights of signs can be part of it, along with lots of things to think about, sensory overwhelm isn't just about how *many* things are around that you "notice" but that they feel intense. In fact bc of the intensity of color and brightness and sounds and temperature and air currents and clothes and people moving and bumping, you might "notice" even fewer things, bc it's hard to be observant when you're overwhelmed! The author does not seem to understand this distinction between being extremely observant while calm and being overwhelmed.
The author kept describing overwhelm as almost purely visual and intellectual, especially with words. While lots of sights of signs can be part of it, along with lots of things to think about, sensory overwhelm isn't just about how *many* things are around that you "notice" but that they feel intense. In fact bc of the intensity of color and brightness and sounds and temperature and air currents and clothes and people moving and bumping, you might "notice" even fewer things, bc it's hard to be observant when you're overwhelmed! The author does not seem to understand this distinction between being extremely observant while calm and being overwhelmed.
This character isn't totally unrealistic (I'm sure there's someone out there like him), but he embodies all the stereotypes one could cram into an autistic character at once. The math thing is especially heavily utilized in this story. Christopher also is quite ableist and condescending to the other "special needs" kids at his school, has casual racial prejudice, and other prejudiced fears of certain kinds of people. I can't tell if he's just supposed to have picked these up from the people around him or if the author considered these accepable prejudices at the time that no one would think twice about reading.
There were a few things I liked about this book:
Totally related when Christopher was asked "Do you like biscuits?" and he said "Some biscuits" because there are different kinds w different textures and flavors and sweetness you could like or not!
Christopher's dad (when he's not angry and frustrated, which was hard for me to read this second time having experienced that in real life) does a lot of useful things, like explaining how he's going to touch Christopher to move him, and where, and why, and all the steps, before he does it; prepares foods in a way Christopher can/will eat and doesn't force him to eat differently; has a special gesture to show love that doesn't force hugging.
The informational digressions!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Ableism, Animal death, and Infidelity
Minor: Suicide, Racism, and Violence