Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Lessons by Ian McEwan

11 reviews

peckreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

zara89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

bernard_black's review against another edition

emotional reflective

• Loveable characters? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

pipnewman's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-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

I enjoyed this read, and stuck with it which is saying something as I don't often read books this long. Told from the perspective of Roland, who grows up in the aftermath of the Second World War, the book is very rooted in the historical context. It was interesting to feel that each character was deeply influenced by the historical and political contexts- arms races, the fall of the Berlin Wall, political movements in Britain, all the way through to the covid lockdowns. However it did feel very male centric- all the male characters were significantly more developed than the female characters and it felt like the genre of 'grandad telling his life story at the dinner table'. Also massive massive content warning for sexual assault / harassment / pedophilia - it jumps in right at chapter 1, threads through the whole novel and is very confronting if you are not expecting it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Dementia

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

The start is a struggle tbh but it does improve a lot, about growing up and getting old and just life more generally

‘He wasn’t waiting for her. But if she ever turned up he wanted his options open. Which was another was of saying, he was waiting.’

‘A form of narcissism, or closely related paranoia.’

‘It was his right to want nothing.’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

rosereadsalot's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Dementia, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jennikreads's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Transphobia

schorlett's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Transphobia and Abortion

bridgetkay's review against another edition

reflective slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

I wanted more from this book - and by more, I certainly don’t mean words or pages. From the blurb I was expecting some skilful weaving of a person’s life with the background of major world events. But I was not compelled to continue reading, and found myself quickly wanting to get this book over and done with. Some parts were enjoyable, but with the amount of different huge issues that were attempted, I didn’t feel like any were done justice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism

stuffinmybrainhole's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and War