Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

32 reviews

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

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

elsa_clare's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

meganjeg's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious 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? No

5.0

This is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read which makes it so interesting when the subject matter is around suburban poverty, drugs, abuse and neglect.

For better or worse, I primarily read to be entertained and uplifted and whilst this book is many things, it isn’t those two. So it did take me a few sittings over a number of months to read this book. 

I would recommend spending time with Eli Bell and his dysfunctional family. It’s a coming of age story that swaps out cliches for the realities of generational trauma. Plus, a cracking crime story. 

This book is grim but spectacular. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse and Suicidal thoughts

booksforsarah's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

I had trouble with this books pacing. At times there was intense actions scenes where I couldn’t put the book down, and then other times there was literally pages of internal monologue that had me nodding off. I think if the pace was a bit more consistent I would have enjoyed the reading experience a lot more. 

I can definitely appreciate the good writing, it probably just isn’t the book for me and that’s okay. 

As an Australian though, I loved it. I loved seeing references to Australian slang and brands and places ect and seeing my home country so explicitly represented 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

bridgie_didge's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Car accident

ardour's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

praises the police!

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

alicx_g's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Alcohol

caittyj's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Panic attacks/disorders