Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

16 reviews

bookish_history's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Grief, Mental illness, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

alicelalicon's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Alcohol, Medical content, Racism, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Sexual content, Ableism, and Cursing

Minor: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts

daydreamereyes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Fatphobia

librarianlayla'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

If you're looking for a book that has a lot of emotional range, but not overly littered with joy or hope - then this is for you.

Whilst beautifully written, raw and real - there wasn't a lot of light within this book. It holds a lot of pain, confusion and loss.

This book is designed to make you feel and to think on a broader spectrum. Less about enjoyment and more about emotional expansion within the realm of sorrow.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment, Addiction, Car accident, Drug use, Dysphoria, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death, Animal death, Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Hate crime

heidi_meredith's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

I liked the way this challenged perceptions of mental illness, yet I also wondered if there were elements of the "Just pull your socks up" attitude, which can be unhelpful, although it worked for the storyline and character development. 

I loved the writing style and cast of characters, especially the mother-son relationship and its bittersweetness, with the changes of adolescence and their shared grief. For me, it spoke deeply about our relationships with the objects around us and the value we impute to them. I enjoyed seeing the parallel journey of mother and son in this, with the mother often imputing personality or intent to objects in a way that her son was also experiencing through his mental illness. This ties in with conversations the son has with his friends regarding the nature of mental illness and where the boundaries for 'normal' are set. 

I found this book hopeful and accepting of those on the fringes of society. It seems to seek connection and beauty in lives otherwise adversely affected by trauma, grief and illness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Grief

Moderate: Violence and Fatphobia

Minor: Child abuse

clemencepct's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Animal death

jennazim's review

challenging emotional hopeful 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: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Grief, Death of parent, and Child abuse

ye_li's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, and Self harm

Minor: Sexism, Child abuse, and Sexual content

icedcoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Child abuse, Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Drug use

storykath's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.75

Whew, finally made it! I read this book in fits and starts over the last two weeks, and a lot of the time it felt unending, but in the end it was a worthwhile story that will probably stay on my mind for a while.

This book tackles a lot; there's commentary on mental health, addiction, the nature of stories, politics, and society as a whole. It was an effort to continually wade through them all, but the switches in POVs were effective for keeping things balanced.

There's also a lot of nuance and ambiguity in this book, and I think it was handled incredibly well. We hear the subjective thoughts and feelings of characters with mental illnesses and addictions, and we can see how easy it is for them to fall into deluded or dangerous ways of thinking. At times I was totally immersed in each character's perspective, and at other times I could approach it more objectively and see the truths that they were missing. To handle this type of writing so sensitively and faithfully is really a feat.

I don't think I would read this book again, as a lot of the philosophy was too nebulous for my tastes, but I would recommend it to anyone looking for an absurd yet bracingly real story of struggle and survival.

Definitely check content warnings before diving in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Blood, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Medical content, and Bullying

Minor: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Violence