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Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'
The Book of Lost Things Illustrated Edition by John Connolly
13 reviews
kaziaroo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I read this because of the connection to Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron, but was very disappointed.
This book is incredibly suspenseful and John Connelly is brilliant at creating atmosphere, but there were just too many sections that left a bad taste in my mouth. I had my misgivings at the start when racist slurs like "g*psies" were used casually, but it got worse and worse. The book is permeated with homophobia, fatphobia and misogyny. The complex characters are all men, while the female characters are either villains or damsels in distress (with the possible exception of Rose, who is still one-dimensional). There are two gay characters in the book (one briefly mentioned near the beginning and one with a major role later on) and both are linked with paedophilia and "unnaturalness". This was an incredibly spiteful book to anyone who isn't a straight, white, well-educated man.
I also didn't like how the author makes enemies of non-fiction books, encouraging the reader to look on reading the newspaper or textbooks with disdain:
"He couldn’t understand most of what they [the non-fiction books] were saying, but they spoke v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y as if what they had to impart was very important or the person to whom they were speaking was very stupid. Some of the books appeared to be arguing among themselves in blah-blah-blah tones, the way experts sometimes talked on the wireless when they were addressing one another, surrounded by other experts whom they were trying to impress with their intelligence."
"Newspaper stories were like newly caught fish, worthy of attention only for as long as they remained fresh, which was not very long at all. They were like the street urchins hawking the evening editions, all shouty and insistent, while stories – real stories, proper made-up stories – were like stern but helpful librarians in a well-stocked library. Newspaper stories were as insubstantial as smoke, as long-lived as mayflies. They did not take root but were instead like weeds that crawled along the ground, stealing the sunlight from more deserving tales. David’s father’s mind was always occupied by shrill, competing voices, each one silenced as soon as he gave it his attention, only for its clamour to be instantly replaced by another."
This is an incredibly dangerous idea to impress on potentially young readers of this book. Yes, fiction is wonderful, but reading and understanding non-fiction is vital.
Additionally, I found the key action scenes disappointing; after a lot of build-up, David seemed to get out of each situation relatively easily. The other characters kept praising how he was brave and achieved what grown men didn't and I was just like... Where? When did he do anything special that Roland (for example) couldn't have done? I felt like I was constantly being told to be in awe of David but I just didn't feel it. The ending felt too easy as well. I suppose it's good that David decided not to sell his brother to the Crooked Man, but simply holding out for long enough magically solved all of his problems – his two main antagonists, the Crooked Man and the Loups, simply disappeared and David trotted off into the sunset leaving the kingdom potentially in chaos, being suddenly without its monarchy.
Overall, I don't recommend this book and I certainly would never encourage any under-18s to read it, no matter the target audience (the book is written in a fairytale style and the protagonist is ~13–14 years old for most of the story). The content is dark and violent enough to make it unsuitable for young children, but I would be worried about even teenagers being influenced by this book. There are so much better things out there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Confinement, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy
persychan's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Era un meh, di 3 stelle, con delle scelte di "dark fairytale" che mi hanno lasciato perplessa e mi hanno fatto chiedere quanta misoginia mai analizzata abbia l'autore, e quante fossero per l'amore dello shock, ma il momento in cui il libro stesso si sente in dover di dirti "Ah, questo libro parla di un bambino che diventa uomo" perchè non è in grado di comunicarlo in altra maniera, mi perdi.
"In quel momento divenne più uomo che ragazzo, e fu allora quando il suo passaggio all'età adulta ebbe seriamente inizio." a pagina 215.
Ah sì, il tipico passaggio all'età adulta: vedere corpi umani appesi come mosche a rovi giganteschi. Certamente si tratta di crescita, non di traumi che segneranno la tua intera vita e non ti permetteranno di diventare un adulto senza problemi di salute mentale. Di cui dimostravi già tratti, se non fosse che l'iniziale istinto di OCD viene eliminato dal "magari no" di un Boscaiolo/Figura paterna numero 2.
A parte i vari problemi del libro, ho avuto la sfortuna di leggerlo nella nuova edizione Fanucci che ha una terribile copertina AI (o come definita da amici, il primo caso di body horror con un libro), mentre la postfazione del libro mi tesse le lodi dell'edizione illustrata inglese. Così, per farti invidia che invece tu hai 'sta ciofecata.
"In quel momento divenne più uomo che ragazzo, e fu allora quando il suo passaggio all'età adulta ebbe seriamente inizio." a pagina 215.
Ah sì, il tipico passaggio all'età adulta: vedere corpi umani appesi come mosche a rovi giganteschi. Certamente si tratta di crescita, non di traumi che segneranno la tua intera vita e non ti permetteranno di diventare un adulto senza problemi di salute mentale. Di cui dimostravi già tratti, se non fosse che l'iniziale istinto di OCD viene eliminato dal "magari no" di un Boscaiolo/Figura paterna numero 2.
A parte i vari problemi del libro, ho avuto la sfortuna di leggerlo nella nuova edizione Fanucci che ha una terribile copertina AI (o come definita da amici, il primo caso di body horror con un libro), mentre la postfazione del libro mi tesse le lodi dell'edizione illustrata inglese. Così, per farti invidia che invece tu hai 'sta ciofecata.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, and Vomit
sam_uel_c's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia and Pedophilia
fayesavanne's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
rkazoo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
5.0
I’m incapable of reading this and not crying. So many beautiful themes and messages delivered by incredible characters. Ah!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Misogyny, Excrement, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
lea_liest's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: War
Minor: Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent
renpuspita's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.0
Gue masih ingat sekitar 2012 (lama ya), temen2 BBI banyak yang baca buku The Book of Lost Things atau yang diterjemahkan jadi Kitab Tentang yang Telah Hilang. Karena gue juga kepo, akhirnya beli walau tetep aja ditimbun dan akhirnya baru dibaca tahun 2023. Mestinya gue baca ini tahun 2024 aja biar lama ditimbunnya sama kayak usia tokoh utamanya, David, yang berumur 12 tahun. Tapi ya sudahlah, kan niatnya habisin timbunan yak.
Gue awalnya mengira ini hanya fairy tale biasa dengan dark twist, semacam A Tale Dark and Grimm karya Adam Gidwitz. Gue ga mengira, ceritanya bakal DEPRESIF, GELAP dan SADIS . Dari awal emang udah ngebatin, kenapa kisah fairy tale dengan tokoh anak kecil dikategorikan sebagai novel dewasa. Mutual gue di Twitter bilang kalau ini ceritanya banyak konten gore dan juga kayak Narnia tapi versi lebih dark. Buku ini sepertinya ditulis Connolly untuk membuat Narnia versinya sendiri, yang digabungkan dengan kegilaan ala Alice in the Wonderland dan vibe sadis, depresif yang berasal dari setting bukunya yaitu awal Perang Dunia II. Buku ini emang mau ga mau bikin teringat Narnia, mengingat sub genrenya sama - sama portal fantasy (dateng ke dunia lain) dan juga terjadi di awal serangan Jerman ke Inggris di tahun 1940. Bedanya hanya David ini sendiri, sementara anak - anak Pevensie ada berempat. Tentunya tidak ada Turkish Delight disini. Yang ada hanyalah aura suram, binatang jahat yang ingin jadi manusia dan manusia yang juga keji.
Diceritakan sepenuhnya dari sudut pandang orang ketiga serba tahu tapi tetap berfokus pada David, Connolly banyak bermain dengan kisah - kisah dongeng yang kita tahu. Dongeng aslinya yang sudah suram (dengan harapan sebagai pengingat untuk anak - anak. Ingat ya, versi Disney itu versi yang jinak), sama Connolly dibikin lebih suram lagi. Ada awal mula kaum Loup (atau werewolf) yang bermula dari Kisah si Tudung Merah, ada kisah Hansel and Gretel yang tidak berakhir bahagia, para kurcaci yang benci kapitalis dan Snow White yang sangat ga snow white banget XD. Lalu ada juga kisah Goldilocks dan Tiga Beruang yang..yah anda benar, pokoknya ga happy end. Kisah Putri Tidur yang ga biasa, pemburu gila yang suka membuat chimera (gabungan manusia dan binatang) dan kehadiran makhluk jail bernama Lelaki Bungkuk yang membawa David ke Negeri Dongeng dan ga ingin bocah itu pergi. Tapi, walau banyak kekejaman dan kebengisan yang menerpa, David pun bertemu dengan bbrp orang yang membantunya seperti Tukang Kayu dan Roland si prajurit.
Endingnya sendiri menurut gue bisa dibilang "bahagia", tergantung sama definisi bahagia itu kayak gimana. Tapi gue akuin abis baca buku ini gue berasa hampa. Memang benar kalau buku ini tuh sebenarnya lebih ke perjalanan David secara emosional, aka coming of age. Menurut gue juga ini cara Connolly menceritakan David untuk memproses rasa dukanya akibat ibunya yang meninggal terlalu cepat dan rasa amarah serta tersisihkan karena ayahnya menikah lagi dengan Rose yang notabene dulu perawat ibu David bahkan sampai punya anak. Bagaimana David akhirnya menerima kalau ibunya sudah meninggal dan juga akhirnya belajar mencintai keluarga barunya. Menurut gue, bagian terakhirnya memang bagus banget ketika David tiba di ujung perjalanannya. Sayangnya, rasa hampa itu tetap ada karena gue merasa apakah kekerasan dan kekejaman di buku ini emang perlu? Gue merasa dengan tema horror dan twisted, terlalu banyak konten gore dan mutilasi yang terjadi sampe gue mati rasa waktu baca. Apalagi si Lelaki Bungkuk yang hobinya menyiksa orang hanya untuk hiburan. Gue berkali - kali mikir apakah porsi kekejamannya ini diperlukan agar David beranjak dari anak kecil menjadi dewasa?
Buku ini memang banyak content & trigger warningnya. Keterangan "Novel Dewasa" emang bukan sekedar tempelan meski tokohnya anak kecil karena banyak bagian cerita yang berpotensi bikin kamu mual bagi yang ga biasa . Pun buku ini dibaca pas moodnya lagi baik, karena endingnya emang bikin kayak tertegun dan ngerasa hampa. Tapi kalau kamu suka kisah dongeng dengan bumbu horror dan banyak versi twistnya, buku ini cocok untuk dibaca. Yang jelas ini bukan buku untuk anak - anak. Ini untuk orang dewasa yang ingin dongeng yang cocok untuk mereka, karena orang dewasa pun masih butuh kisah dongeng sebagai pengingat.
Gue awalnya mengira ini hanya fairy tale biasa dengan dark twist, semacam A Tale Dark and Grimm karya Adam Gidwitz. Gue ga mengira, ceritanya bakal DEPRESIF, GELAP dan SADIS . Dari awal emang udah ngebatin, kenapa kisah fairy tale dengan tokoh anak kecil dikategorikan sebagai novel dewasa. Mutual gue di Twitter bilang kalau ini ceritanya banyak konten gore dan juga kayak Narnia tapi versi lebih dark. Buku ini sepertinya ditulis Connolly untuk membuat Narnia versinya sendiri, yang digabungkan dengan kegilaan ala Alice in the Wonderland dan vibe sadis, depresif yang berasal dari setting bukunya yaitu awal Perang Dunia II. Buku ini emang mau ga mau bikin teringat Narnia, mengingat sub genrenya sama - sama portal fantasy (dateng ke dunia lain) dan juga terjadi di awal serangan Jerman ke Inggris di tahun 1940. Bedanya hanya David ini sendiri, sementara anak - anak Pevensie ada berempat. Tentunya tidak ada Turkish Delight disini. Yang ada hanyalah aura suram, binatang jahat yang ingin jadi manusia dan manusia yang juga keji.
Diceritakan sepenuhnya dari sudut pandang orang ketiga serba tahu tapi tetap berfokus pada David, Connolly banyak bermain dengan kisah - kisah dongeng yang kita tahu. Dongeng aslinya yang sudah suram (dengan harapan sebagai pengingat untuk anak - anak. Ingat ya, versi Disney itu versi yang jinak), sama Connolly dibikin lebih suram lagi. Ada awal mula kaum Loup (atau werewolf) yang bermula dari Kisah si Tudung Merah, ada kisah Hansel and Gretel yang tidak berakhir bahagia, para kurcaci yang benci kapitalis dan Snow White yang sangat ga snow white banget XD. Lalu ada juga kisah Goldilocks dan Tiga Beruang yang..yah anda benar, pokoknya ga happy end. Kisah Putri Tidur yang ga biasa, pemburu gila yang suka membuat chimera (gabungan manusia dan binatang) dan kehadiran makhluk jail bernama Lelaki Bungkuk yang membawa David ke Negeri Dongeng dan ga ingin bocah itu pergi. Tapi, walau banyak kekejaman dan kebengisan yang menerpa, David pun bertemu dengan bbrp orang yang membantunya seperti Tukang Kayu dan Roland si prajurit.
Endingnya sendiri menurut gue bisa dibilang "bahagia", tergantung sama definisi bahagia itu kayak gimana. Tapi gue akuin abis baca buku ini gue berasa hampa. Memang benar kalau buku ini tuh sebenarnya lebih ke perjalanan David secara emosional, aka coming of age. Menurut gue juga ini cara Connolly menceritakan David untuk memproses rasa dukanya akibat ibunya yang meninggal terlalu cepat dan rasa amarah serta tersisihkan karena ayahnya menikah lagi dengan Rose yang notabene dulu perawat ibu David bahkan sampai punya anak. Bagaimana David akhirnya menerima kalau ibunya sudah meninggal dan juga akhirnya belajar mencintai keluarga barunya. Menurut gue, bagian terakhirnya memang bagus banget ketika David tiba di ujung perjalanannya. Sayangnya, rasa hampa itu tetap ada karena gue merasa apakah kekerasan dan kekejaman di buku ini emang perlu? Gue merasa dengan tema horror dan twisted, terlalu banyak konten gore dan mutilasi yang terjadi sampe gue mati rasa waktu baca. Apalagi si Lelaki Bungkuk yang hobinya menyiksa orang hanya untuk hiburan. Gue berkali - kali mikir apakah porsi kekejamannya ini diperlukan agar David beranjak dari anak kecil menjadi dewasa?
Buku ini memang banyak content & trigger warningnya. Keterangan "Novel Dewasa" emang bukan sekedar tempelan meski tokohnya anak kecil karena banyak bagian cerita yang berpotensi bikin kamu mual bagi yang ga biasa . Pun buku ini dibaca pas moodnya lagi baik, karena endingnya emang bikin kayak tertegun dan ngerasa hampa. Tapi kalau kamu suka kisah dongeng dengan bumbu horror dan banyak versi twistnya, buku ini cocok untuk dibaca. Yang jelas ini bukan buku untuk anak - anak. Ini untuk orang dewasa yang ingin dongeng yang cocok untuk mereka, karena orang dewasa pun masih butuh kisah dongeng sebagai pengingat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Outing
lisas_bookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
ashfantastic98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Fatphobia and Homophobia
aiiilnv's review against another edition
1.0
it was just actually so bad I feel like the surroundings were barely spoken about and the characters are practically all men. Plus two male characters literally felt the exact same and when THE WOODSMAN CAME BACK AT THE END????? PLEASE IT WAS SO DUMB WHY IS HE ALIVE AGAIN IT FELT SO STUPID, LET THE MAN DIE IT WOULD HAVE FELT MORE IMPORTANT I mean I guess there were women in this book but (TW: sa) one's dead and the other he (the lead) hates, another's basically dead and one is genuinely just a sexual assaulter?? like?? HES A CHILD WHY AM I READING ABOUT HIM BEING CHAINED TO A TABLE NO THANKYOU NEVER THANKYOU THAT SUCKED AND I DON'T CARE I DIDN'T LIKE IT PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS BOOK EVER I CAN NOT DETER YOU ENOUGH FROM THIS BOOK JUST ACTUALLY PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IT IS SO BAD LMAO.
PEOPLE SAW ME READING IT ON THE BUS AND I HAD TO TELL THEM THAT NO, NO, THEY DON'T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK. NO MATTER HOW PRETTY THAT COVER ART IS ITS A LIE DON'T DO IT.
This has been very ranty and badly written but it's just actually so bad.
I think there were important things to be found within its pages but for all the badness of the rest of it I just actually would rather burn it.
I literally never hate books this much this just annoyed to no end.
Spare yourself a bad book.
There are literally so many better books.
there's also anti-lgbtq talk which he realises is wrong to some extent but it still was not at all fun to read
do what you will ig
PEOPLE SAW ME READING IT ON THE BUS AND I HAD TO TELL THEM THAT NO, NO, THEY DON'T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK. NO MATTER HOW PRETTY THAT COVER ART IS ITS A LIE DON'T DO IT.
This has been very ranty and badly written but it's just actually so bad.
I think there were important things to be found within its pages but for all the badness of the rest of it I just actually would rather burn it.
I literally never hate books this much this just annoyed to no end.
Spare yourself a bad book.
There are literally so many better books.
do what you will ig
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Fatphobia
in terms of content warnings, there's a lot to look out for (I've blocked out this book in my head so I can't remember it all) while some of it is alluded to in other characters etc and it definitely depends on where you stand in terms of how comfortable you are reading it but literally just no. so bad. sorry to the author but am i? not really.