Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

178 reviews

shadowsandspells's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.0

While *All the Ugly and Wonderful Things* tackles some heavy and thought-provoking themes, I found the pacing a bit sluggish, and at times, the narrative felt long-winded. The story of Wavy and Kellen is undoubtedly unconventional, and Greenwood delves into difficult moral gray areas with a raw, unfiltered lens. However, the book dragged in places, making it feel more like a slow burn that never fully ignited.

Wavy’s perspective, while unique and emotionally stirring, didn’t always hold my attention. The multiple points of view often made the story feel disjointed, which contributed to the overall sense of it being drawn out. While the character development is strong, the plot progression felt bogged down by the excessive detail, which made some sections feel more tedious than captivating.

That said, Greenwood's writing is beautiful in places, and the novel does touch on important topics like trauma, family dysfunction, and unconventional love. It's just that for me, the pacing made it hard to stay fully invested throughout. If you enjoy slow, introspective reads, you might connect with this more than I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

rowan27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It's so hard to write a review of this book, but I felt it necessary. This book doesn't feel good to read. It's hard. It's heavy. One of the heaviest and most difficult books I've ever read. It's a lot. It took me a long time to get through. 

 If anything, I'd say this book is about humanity and the effects of trauma and abuse through generations. It's about how morals can change and become blurred in different circumstances. About the difference in ethics and morality depending on those circumstances. 
And it's about what can happen if people just turn a blind eye and don't intervene when they should and what can happen if they intervene too late or not at all.

This book was so well written. It felt real. It made my heart ache, and there were so many points I wanted to stop reading, but I needed some sort of conclusion. I'm glad I finished it, but even at the conclusion, it left me feeling hollow and empty.

I felt the author dealt with extremely heavy subject matter in a very real way, from the viewpoints of multiple parties involved. Even though the author didn't stray away from any of the subjects involved, I could tell that they were careful about how they told the story. It didn't stray from crossing those hard lines, but made it clear how difficult those lines were to cross. It felt like reading a true story, one that I'm sure, unfortunately, several people could relate to. One that ended in a real way, with unresolved issues entangling the lives of the characters. Complicated and messy.

Some can argue that it romanticizes horrible circumstances. That it glorifies the relationship of these characters. I can see that argument. But beneath it all and more than that, to me, it felt more like a retelling of someone's life. The things that make people messy and human. It's complicated, and I think that's the point.

I can't recommend this book to anyone because of what it deals with. There is no way I would insist anyone should read it. But I can say that it is very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

emboivinguay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Murder

klasco94's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

ellabell57's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Hard for some to read, and that is understandable. However you can really feel how these characters feel about each other and the world around them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Alcohol

It’s hard to categorize these between minor and graphic.

the adult minor relationship is not toxic like you would normally assume, and the child abuse is not from this relationship

. Rape and the concept of statutory rape become prominent in the story

near the middle and end of the story. But most people involved argue that it was not rape, no one more than the character that was supposedly assaulted

bookish_manda's review against another edition

DNF at 23%

I can’t handle

inappropriate relationships

with minors and I was picking up on a vibe. If this is a trigger for you, just know that this book deals with a large variety of

child abuse

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

yinzer_barbie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Blood and Abandonment

alilysong's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

did this book romanticize a pedo as a love interest? i think yes…however story had its moving and riveting moments. thought some scenes captured loneliness and yearning for human connection well. but quickly started losing interest as story progressed. by the end came away feeling the attempts at emotional manipulation by the author were too obvious. characters didn’t feel realistic. also didn’t think all the povs we got were necessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

melanie_reading's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

Parts of this are very difficult to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

megsk22's review against another edition

dark sad 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol