Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Boys Don't Cry

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Boys Don't Cry by Fíona Scarlett

16 reviews

silverbirch's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

Focusses on a family in Ireland, whose father has connections in a violent mafia. The two sons have a diverging path, one of whom struggled to separate his morals from his father, one of whom becomes terminally ill with cancer. While in theory this book was interesting, I found it hard to connect with the characters or feel emotional in places where it was obvious I should.

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meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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? No

3.5

I really wanted to like this book, especially considering how alluring the title was. Speaking of the title, I'd like to state that this title is quite misleading on what this book was about. Initially, I thought this book was going to explore the depths of how toxic masculinity affects the youth and how its conditioning has shaped previous generations. Although the author does displays events that depict toxic masculinity she never dives into how those principles and actions affect the main characters at all. Putting the misleading title aside, this book was actually a story about how gang culture shaped a family and its community as well as depicting the battles one faces when faced with a terminal illness.

I understand how many found this story emotional and a phenomenal piece on Dublin and the effects of gang culture and how classism plays a role. However, I felt like the issues this book was tackling were very surface-level. Joe didn't seem like a flushed-out enough character in my opinion and I don't we got enough insight into his grieving for his brother. Also, I was expecting more emotional interactions with the two brothers considering the blurb portrayed them to be very close.

I'd also like to point out that I'm not familiar with Dublin culture so many of the phrases used were very unfamiliar to me and I just didn't vibe with the way that this book was written. And the ending of this book felt very underwhelming and inconclusive

What happened to his dad? Also, I'm confused about the shooting. Did he shoot his friend?

I was very confused throughout a few parts of this book. Overall, the book just felt pretty surface-level and just didn't live up to what its potential in my opinion.

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ariannazylstra's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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ashalinggg's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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writingcaia's review

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emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

When poverty and crime are your birthrights, even if you’re the smartest your family has seen and granted a scholarship to the Irish high society kid’s private school, how can you protect those you love without turning into your bully, crime boss crony, misogynistic, wife beater father? How can you face the most hurtful loss and still go on and mingle with the entitled rich kids who knowing your father, like the poor ones of your neighbourhood, only expect you to follow in his footsteps?
This book is a portrayal of loss, sudden, and cruel, and of the poverty and crime cycle which is as shown very hard to escape, hard to survive, no matter if you’re given other opportunities, which shows how strong the pull of family and expectations are, that one can turn away from the chance to leave the slums behind just to fit into the expected role and future.
From the beginning you know it’s going to hurt, it hurts from the get go.
Beautiful writing, and very insightful story. Loved it! Only wish it went on… it’s my own preference for longer books, longer endings.

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pkc's review

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Achingly sad, but hopeful. A really gorgeous example of Irish literature: spare, taut and bruising. I absolutely loved it. Didn’t like feeling like I was asked to have sympathy for certain characters and it wrapped VERY quickly.

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