Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili

16 reviews

chia_ie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

this book took me almost 2 months to read. but it was so worth it. i have this feeling of like … what do i do now? 

the ending was so good. the very few past pages. so, so good. the characters were all so flawed, so human. but i loved them all regardless. it was as if i actually knew them. the stories were surreal, yet gutting to read, because i fear that some of the events that took place are not far from the reality of life back then. 

if you have the patience, i would absolutely recommend this book. the one downside is that i didn’t find it to be a book i could relax with. i had to be focused to work out the connections between characters and such. i even ended up drawing family trees to help myself 

this book was great. i’ll miss the Jashis.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

erikwm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

2.75

I found the first half intriguing and even enchanting, in its dark own way, but then it started feeling very protracted, long-winded, garrulous. I did finish it because I felt I owed it to the great first half of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

machenn's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Abortion

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, and Homophobia

ssreadsintranslation's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide and Toxic relationship

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Abortion, and Outing

noaregine's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

Om het boek geen 1,5 of 2 sterren te geven moet ik terugdenken naar het begin, toen de personages me nog trokken en soms zelfs begrijpelijk handelden en toen de schrijfstijl nog lyrisch en zangerig was. Maar na 1270 bladzijden aan leed, herhaling en oerdomme keuzes was zelfs de mooie stijl wollig en zeikerig geworden en kon het me niet zo veel meer schelen. Was het maar dunner geweest. Ik ben blij dat ik het (uit) gelezen heb, en ik heb zeker de eerste helft echt heel wat geleerd en ervan genoten, maar verder is het vooral een leuke anekdote dat dit boek waar ik een half jaar over heb gedaan een stom Instagram-accpunt heeft geïnspireerd. En sicke kudo's voor de vertalers en voor de moed van de uitgever om 1270 bladzijden te acquireren en er een ongekende bestseller van te maken.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, and Pregnancy

tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition

1.5

A history book masquerading as fiction. Studded throughout with explanatory passages detailing the nuances of the historical period, I felt that this overly ambitious work did not fulfil its promise. I enjoyed the insight it gave me into Georgian history (something I knew very little about), but could not get over the poor quality of the writing. The characterisation was especially weak - incidents seem contrived, whilst decisions lacked believability. At times the characters felt like mere caricatures. The reams of exposition did not help in this regard. 

One more thing (that hardly needs saying) a book focusing on a family in the Soviet Union in the 20th century does not need an additional something that brings people misfortune or bad luck - terrible things were happening anyway! The magical hot chocolate was redundant. 

On the whole a dissatisfying read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder