Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

24 reviews

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. This is book twenty-four on the poster. As with most classics, I struggled with this and sort of lost the storyline, and the pace was killing me.  

This book is about an orphan named Pip and he was raised in squalor in the marsh country of Kent, he is taken under the wing of the eccentric and reclusive Miss Havisham, and he has given his heart to the dowager’s beautiful but ice-cold adopted daughter, Estella. Even as a mysterious benefactor helps to shape Pip’s life into one of fortune, success and self-discovery. But the unspeakable secrets of his unrequited love continues to haunt him and promises to change his life once again. 

I enjoyed how the book was split into three parts to represent Pip’s life as a small, unloved boy who is in a toxic household and wanting some form of escape. To then getting his escape and becoming a man in London’s society and seeing how the society has changed him and made him into a toxic man, to then coming home and realising what he wanted. I enjoyed Pip’s growth even if I wanted to slap him at times for his actions and the people, he chooses to spend time with. Joe saved this book from being two stars, he was the only one who seemed to care about people and loved his job rather than trying to scheme his way up the society ladder. 

Even though this book was under 300 pages, it felt like it was 900 pages. I am going to assume it’s because of the language and the classic feel to it, but it felt like pulling teeth to get this book finished. It was a long book of getting out of the friend zone. The rest of the side characters annoyed me, Pip’s sister was just a horrible woman who hated her life and took it out on anyone who would listen. Estella couldn’t make her mind up until the last chapter. Miss Havisham – I couldn’t make my mind up about, I was liking her and rooting for her, but I also didn’t trust her. There was a lot of events that weren’t needed, and it was confusing me as new characters were getting introduced with the events and then they would go after that.  

The next book on the poster is A Tale of Two Cities, so let’s hope I understand that one a bit more.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Violence

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful reflective slow-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

I enjoyed this immensely- had no idea it was going to be like this! I am glad to have been prompted to listen to it thanks to the Audrey app.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Stalking and Alcohol

Minor: Kidnapping

thechroniclesofsiania's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

julleah's review against another edition

This book is super depressing and treats child abuse (physical and emotional) and manipulation like a normal everyday thing. It also has a weird relationship between an adult and minor that isn’t romantic but is strange and unhealthy. I wouldn’t recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

ayphyx's review against another edition

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

2.75

This book fucking sucked. It’s boring, Pip is a bland character, the only good thing  is Estella Havisham who is the best character in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

mmefish's review against another edition

What a bore. Pathetic "love" of the main character towards Estella (based on nothing but her looks and coldness) that I could not care less about, unfortunately, becomes the main focus of the story. The beginning was somehow entertaining but it absolutely lost me after part I.

P.S. oh my god, Biddy gets

married to JOE?! 🤮🤮🤮 And they have children 🤢

Repulsive.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Antisemitism

sweetjuicee_'s review against another edition

challenging inspiring sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.25

the more i dwell on this book after being forced to study it, the less i hate it. odd.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Alcohol

yrlaevelyn's review against another edition

funny reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Medical trauma

e_r_q's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

"Moths and all sorts of ugly creatures hover around a lighted candle. Can the candle help it?"

It is apparently only a myth that Charles Dickens was paid by the word to write his novels. But after reading Great Expectations, I wouldn't be surprised if that myth were actually the truth.

Although Dickens' witty writing initially engaged and entertained me for the first third of the novel, the rest of the book is written so superfluously, meaning it is extremely difficult to engage with the narrative. Worse still, the narrative itself is excessively drawn out, with some lifeless characters (who feel for the most part like plot devices), obvious themes and seemingly very little to say overall. There are also some plot beats that feel frustratingly convoluted, and overly-rely on coincidences and conveniences. 

There are the foundations of some good stuff here, but everything is so under-explored whilst simultaneously being unnecessarily long. In short, it is a chore to get through.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Death and Death of parent

samantha_2023's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse