Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

32 reviews

kiwichill's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

A tragic but funny book about growing up in a chaotic household where there is alcohol and drug addiction and domestic violence.  Parents are friends with ex criminals.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Medical content, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

biggiantloser's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

i thought about taking half a point off for the last paragraph.. because i really didn’t need or want that. but it was a really good read that captured me from start to finish so i will forgive it’s crime in this instance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol

lazydayreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Book is raw intriguing addictive and uncomfortable - its 50 % auto biography and 50% fiction - the former is disturbing the latter a clever embellishment with some dark scenarios.  I felt a bit obsessed after and googled everything I could lay my hands on.. Not for faint-hearted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

mother_of_theo's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The start of the book is a bit slow, the story picks up at about page 150 and is well worth the read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

baikiebookie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Child abuse

water_and_shade's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Boy Swallows Universe is gritty and soft at the same time. The characters are well fleshed out, flawed but you love and root for them anyway. The descriptions of domestic violence, addiction and poverty are tenderly and empathetically delivered. I did take a while to warm to the book - I really loved the middle third - but also found the ending a bit of a let down, too dramatic and focused on plot twists which I think detracted from the overall pace and gentle build up delivered by the earlier chapters. Dalton really paints a picture with his words, creating an evocative snapshot of Brisbane (my hometown!) in the mid 80's - I could feel the piercing blue sky of QLD summers reading his descriptive passages. Loved the motifs dotted throughout. Overall, a beautiful book with characters that will stick with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, and Stalking

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

atringas's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

This novel contains multitudes. Truly hard to describe, and honestly I’m struggling to quantify my feels about it myself. Beautiful in its imagery, brutal in its realism, touching, mystical, realistic, exciting, slow, there is a bit of everything going on in “Boy Swallows Universe”.
The book truly reads almost more like a number of smaller novels together as it chronicles the life of Eli Bell, and is mostly stronger for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Xenophobia

donaldleitch's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent