Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

12 reviews

thehawksflight's review

Marooned on an uninhabited island, 'civilised' children and prepubescents are presumably unable to democratise, instead regressing into various expressions of 'savage tribe' behaviour. The relatively short read is an exposition of groupthink/de-individuation, populism, superstition and even manslaughter, among other things if you want to go deeper in your anaylsis.

I choose to believe in the essential good of humans, even very young ones, with a tendency toward collaboration and altruism during calamity. William Golding clearly thought otherwise.

The trope(s) have been copied, parodied, interpreted so much over the years that I found the book itself hard to enjoy in its own right.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Classism, Death, Mental illness, Body shaming, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Bullying, Dysphoria, Ableism, and Gaslighting

mollylikethedrug_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

raveries's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a brilliant book and a brutal deconstruction of the 'nice English kids are stranded on an island and have a jolly good time' trope popular in the first half of the 20th century. I hated it and would thoroughly recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Fatphobia, Murder, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Death, and Racism

Minor: War, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

kvelpr's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Bullying, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Animal death, Racial slurs, Murder, and Violence

chenoa_mn's review

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

There were some parts where I found the writing hard to sit through and read, but the story told was intense, tragic and gripping.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Child abuse

fridaerika's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

In general, I did like this book, though the writing somehow managed to explain some things way too much and some things way too little. The story got a little lost in the writing style, imo. 

Spoiler

The ending was also wierd, I would have not wanted them to be saved, and had even more exploration of the main theme. Or I would have liked a bit more exploration of the copntrast that had formed between the "wild" kids and the people that came and saved them. I thought the ending was a cut a little short.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Injury/injury detail, and Child abuse

Minor: Racism

dvnrm's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Child abuse, and Bullying

milichka's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Murder, Death, Animal death, Blood, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Physical abuse, Child death, Injury/injury detail, Child abuse, and Grief

Minor: Emotional abuse, Cursing, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Fire/Fire injury

sssssoup's review against another edition

dark medium-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

0.25

Most upsetting thing I’ve ever read in my life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent

kelseyr713's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I managed to go into The Lord of the Flies completely unspoiled, save for the presence of the conch. I had no idea that it was set in a near-future post-apocalyptic scenario, and immediately went to Wikipedia to get much-needed context for when it was written (and was interested to find out that it was written/conceived as a parody of adventure books).

The story is simple but powerful, the symbolism whacks you over the head, and the growing despair and bewilderment felt through Ralph and his allies is fantastically written. I could have done without the lengthy descriptions of the environment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Cursing, Torture, and War

All content warnings are conducted by children (except war, in the background).