0100's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Child abuse and Racism
ajediprincess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The story was very, very interesting and I enjoyed seeing everything through Braden's perspective. This was definitely a book where the mix of present progressive and past tenses worked beautifully for the story.
All of the characters that we got to know were well-developed and multifaceted and flawed and interesting. I'm not sure if I would call it a character driven novel, but it was certainly emotional and the decisions Braden made were fueled by those emotions and thoughts.
This is in part a book about toxic relationships and emotional abuse. It's also a story about coming of age, questioning one's beliefs, drawing boundaries, healing from trauma, and accepting oneself and one's family as they are, warts and all, without comprising one's health and convictions.
This book was so heavy and so raw, deeply relatable, insightful, strange, and yet beautiful in a way. I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't my favorite, but I'm very glad I read it and I really think that it's kind of an unappreciated, little-known powerful, moving story that more people need to read.
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, and Animal death
shrub_club's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Murder, Addiction, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Drug use
anishday's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
that is definitely not to say that this book wasn't good or worth reading. on the contrary, Conviction is a book that i know i will be pondering for a long while.
kelly loy gilbert's prose struck firmly and deeply with clarity wrought from broken glass. i found myself peeking beneath the fragments present in the text, bracing myself for the ache in my chest that i knew would come at each turn. and turn it did.
the book follows a family, broken with a ragged sorrow. there is braden and trey, estranged brothers with fragments of each other's story, trying to cobble together a tenuous peace. each speaks a language formed by their experience, blaming themselves when the other can't parse the words.
then there is their father, a domineering christian firmly laced to the straight and narrow, whose truth comes undone in a critical moment.
Moderate: Violence, Child abuse, and Homophobia
samu's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Car accident
leannj's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Homophobia
The toxic relationship is between a parent and child.