Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

54 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.5

Definitely a fatiguing book but the kind of book you’d want to teach or take a class on. So much going on in here! People I rooted for despite myself, the goldfinch as an emblem, the psychological triggers for the choices made compulsively, the life of the painting and the parallels to the soul of the protagonist, ask the people we meet by chance and what that really means, etc. Long book worth every minute and every page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

cinnaminskies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Trafficking, and Death of parent

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.0

I think this one just wasn’t for me. Tartt is undeniably an incredibly gifted writer. Her characters leap off the page. The Goldfinch reads like a memoir and I often found myself wondering how it’s possible that someone could pull such real characters out of their head. The audiobook narrator is also masterful in his performance of each one. But part of why I continued to ask myself this was because their lives, and consequently this book, are just so oppressively bleak. Like, I’m a proud Sad Girl™, but this felt like too much sometimes. 

There were also numerous times where I felt like we were gearing up for an ending only to check the audiobook and realize that somehow I still had 13 hours left. As I got to the end, I started to have my usual audiobook thoughts of “maybe I’d like this more if I read with my eyes,” especially with the discussions about the importance of art to the human experience. But I’m not sure I would’ve had the endurance for this book in print. And when it does finally end, it feels very

Boris

ex machina and entirely too quick and easy. I don’t know, man. Maybe all the new adult fantasy I’ve been reading lately is finally rotting my brain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Terrorism, bombing, organized crime

jelliestars's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Classism, and Deportation

rachel7588's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jayisreading's review

dark emotional slow-paced

2.0

I read The Goldfinch over five years ago and didn't particularly love or hate it. I thought it was a compelling Bildungsroman of sorts that was well-written, but I wasn't particularly attached to the characters or the story. I decided to reread this novel to see if my opinion changed (and I was in the mood to pick up a chunky book back when I started this).

My opinion certainly changed, but it was for the worse. This book did not age well by any means with all its racism, ableism, and classism. Tartt certainly writes with eloquence, but her writing is steeped with issues that left me cringing and frustrated. Something that caught my attention was the near absence of nonwhite characters in New York City, of all places, unless they were "the help." I'm not sure how I didn't catch this years ago, considering how glaring these details were.

I also found it even harder to sympathize with the protagonist, Theo, during this reread. The messiness of grief was well presented—even if it was a bit extreme with the addiction and alcoholism—but I was really unhappy with how Tartt went about Theo's relationships in such a dismissive way. He was so wrapped up in his own world that it negatively affected how he treated the people around him. Pippa is objectified in a Manic Pixie Dream Girl kind of way, while Kitsy was treated terribly. The queer experience that Theo had with Boris also went completely unaddressed, which makes me wonder why Tartt bothered adding this detail other than to shock the reader.

A disappointing reread, to say the least.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Racism, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse

rae_kjise's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

malebrina's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Infidelity and Vomit

akvolcano's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

If you’d like to get completely immersed into a characters life, read this book. I can not wait to discuss this book in-depth with someone!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

stevienielson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail