Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride

4 reviews

alishaabrahamsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

4.0

u need to read the TWs for this story, lots of graphic detailed triggering content 

aside from that, the disordered/irregular writing style was a great way to buffer the intensity from the exploration of graphic abuse, molestation, and assault, as well as a great way to bestow personhood onto the victims of abuse. The gaps in the prose, the smaller and bigger words, the weird capitalization, the lack of quotations, the breakdown of inner thought into a jumble of poetry -- all add to representation of Eily and Stephen's thought-process, "unwellness," and complicated histories (and how they process those backgrounds) 

I hope there is some irony running throughout the book, or hidden lingering thought that Eily and Stephen's relationship is not ideal -- b/c they should NOT be together -- i hope that Eily is just an unreliable narrator and not that we should be rooting for them 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

margymargot's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Abortion

tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, and Death of parent

elisemiddletonxo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I absolutely ADORE McBride's writing style in this book. I've seen some people say it's a marmite-esque situation, but I fell into it and was swept up from the first page. McBride's style makes this such an intimate, evocative and immersive reading experience, and that's what I loved about it. It felt as if this book and McBride's protagonist slipped under my skin to inhabit me and I inhabited it for the time I was reading it, which is both an unnerving and addictive experience.

The only reason I've not rated this book higher is that in the extended period that we were in the guy's head (sorry, I'm writing these reviews retrospectively and I'm terrible with names), I really missed the original perspective and style, and found it a bit jarring to be in a more conventional narrative style for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Physical abuse