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cnnr876's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
jessiedoodah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Classism
Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Misogyny
quiltmom14's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit
pun1sher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a dark, dark comedy where the bad guys get away with what they've done, kids go crazy, and adults are all liars or sad or both. Skippy dies is about everything and nothing at all; at moments it reads fast, on other occasions its slow and painful to get through. It takes effort to finish this book because it's weird illogical unsettling and resembles a dense mud puddle. I'm not sure if those struggles are exactly worth it for everyone, but I'm not going to regret the time spent finding out why Skippy died and what happened after. Those 600 something pages are a tangle of horny teenage boys, private schools, disturbing secrets of the Catholic priests, failed inventions, grief, toxic relationships, donuts, and whatnot.
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Infidelity, and Cultural appropriation
homophobic slurs, vulgar discussion of sexual intercourse, fantasies of noncon/rape (including child rape), nword usage by white characters, attempted drugginggnuoymas's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
what i really enjoyed about this book is seeing how, in a small community, we are all connected to each other and that each character can have a different perspective of one situation. one Halloween hop can have the normal awkwardness of a high school dance, the secret love affair between two staff members, and the one-track mind of the demented student trying to get into the hop to ruin it all. a lot of this was hard to read because of how real it felt for them. murray plays with form through run on sentences, no quotation marks for dialogue, and a special text for talking about the pop star Bethani that helps to get into the minds of the character and empathize.
a through line in the novel is the theme of negligence. skippy, from many perspectives, was slowly corroding and breaking without any supervision by the people who were supposed to be there. similarly, we see howard the coward, a kind of adult mirror to skippy, who continues to neglect the life that is right in front of him, ultimately losing it.
the second half of the novel sees many of the characters break down and become the most unhealthy versions of themselves. we see the characters lose sight of reality, whether that be because of skippy himself or the effects of events that had led to skippy's death. it's desperate and heartbreaking. you can see how a single person's absence can effect an entire community. we see them grieve by holding onto whatever they can. this reminds me of the many directions that this novel goes. it shows how much paul murray researched for this novel. whether it be string theory or a special class of Irish soldiers in WWI, it seems that there is so much depth and knowledge that you can pick a part.
one thing that i did not like about the novel is the female characters. it seems that their portrayal was one dimensional and used for the sake of moving the male characters forward in some way. i especially didn't understand some of the logical moves that these characters take other than to be used as a pseudo-intellectual observation on youth and loyalty.
i will say that this novel is not for someone looking for a lighthearted story. it is rife with drug abuse, descriptions of eating disorders, and sexual violence. i will say it's probably easier than a little life, but something to consider when you are thinking about reading this novel.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Rape, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
alingtori's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
At the center of it all is of course, the titular character Skippy, whose death we encounter at the start of the book. Despite having his name in the title, Skippy doesn't really stand out much in the story. Instead, we get to hear from a wide set of characters--from students, teachers, priests, school administrator, and even a staff of a diner. Various themes and topics are also discussed--from string theory to pop culture to drug abuse. This might seem chaotic, but the author manages to piece them all together into a story.
It's funny, it's dark, it's informative, it's thoughtful, it's distasteful. But isn't that what life is?
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Cancer and Fatphobia