Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Persone normali by Sally Rooney

315 reviews

linthemountains's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and Gaslighting

itsaromance's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

Expected a romcom, found a deep and emotional story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Rooney is such a good writer, and I love her style! I just wish the ending wasn’t so ambiguous and abrupt, and I wish I had gotten to see Marianne blossom at least as much as Connell since the book was supposed to be about the both of them growing up, growing apart, finding each other again, etc. But it was pretty much all about Connell and then sometimes Rooney remembered that Marianne has thoughts and feelings, too.

Marianne and Connell’s relationship is so fascinating though. It is so incredibly toxic, yet they clearly belong together at the same time. I think that their relationship is realistically portrayed, and I could sympathize with one or the other of them at different stages in their lives and their relationship. I think that is a testament to Rooney’s writing: feeling like I want/need to evaluate the characters, to pick a side, and to sympathize and empathize with them and why.

However, I hated the ending. Ambiguous endings infuriate me, especially when the ambiguity suggests what it suggests here. We’re really ending with

Marianne staking her worth on her on-again, off-again boyfriend and putting him above her and “letting him go” so he can, what? Some bullshit about how she’s a springboard from which his life can “truly begin”

?

Before I read the last ⅓ of the book, I was expecting to give it a 4 out of 5, but seeing Marianne’s storyline and the ending get fumbled leads me to give it a 3 out of 5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rhubarbpi3's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

2.0

I thought this was well executed and everything I just thought it would be happy but it just made me really sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hduc's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

regina_184's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

3.5

I know that Sally Rooney's books are highly celebrated, but at first I found the third person writing style to be difficult to read, especially since she doesn't use quotation marks for dialogue. But over time I got more used to it and more interested in the characters!

I liked the relationship between the two main characters but I have to admit the last 3rd of the book was pretty sad, and because of that I had to decrease the rating. 

This was probably done because both characters experienced trauma and the author likely wanted to show that you can't outrun your problems. But since the characters were much happier before, it leaves the reader wondering why they couldn't recover again. Honestly it's quite depressing because it implies that you cannot grow out of your trauma and it will come back to haunt you. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Grief

Minor: Eating disorder and Death of parent

sahla's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting

komiification's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Completely devastating how people can love each other so much yet can continue to hurt each other. Can never really talk to each other. Alongside this theme, as well as other points relating to genocide (which is still, upsettingly, relevant to today), and the way people now engage with literature without this political edge, this is, easily a modern classic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Racism, Xenophobia, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

xveronica_fx's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

cadence_e's review against another edition

This book felt as if I was witnessing two not normal people mess up a terrible situation ship repeatedly, all while being helpless to stop anything cause I am seeing everything through a fuzzy haze of word vomit. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism