Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

5 reviews

hazelheaded's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

The book was intriguing and tense, though it was a traumatic read the majority of the time I kept coming back to it because I needed to know what happened.

Slim was a great babysitter!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Car accident

aliengirlreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

the greatest book i have ever read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Vomit

camoo3032's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

1.75

Trent Dalton doesn't shy away from showing the darker bits of Australian society that we rarely get to see. Because this perspective is rarely shown, I would consider this book worth reading. I would warn fellow readers that this makes the book continuously confronting and it is certainly not a lighthearted read.
This provides the backdrop of a story that is far-fetched with descriptive writing that is quite abstract. I am sure there are people out there that would love this book but I found it was trying to be more profound than it actually is.
I also found that the female characters weren't as fully formed or complex as the male ones which is frustrating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

ellen_nicholson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail