Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

23 reviews

owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

‘After that I put some cold water on my face and dried it, the same face I had always had, the one I would have until I died.’

I get it guys! I get it. Her written voice is compelling. Even when things got repetitive, I still found the character voices and emotional atmosphere absorbing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Cursing, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

eliotadrift's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

I hate absolutely every character and almost every decision they made. Why was this so engaging? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infertility, Infidelity, Self harm, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Child abuse

tinalalatina's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

cherrypicking's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Homophobia, and Mental illness

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

my second go with Sally Rooney (first being Normal People), and this time was much more enjoyable. nowhere near as bleak and depressing, but still very emotional. i found the narrator’s desperate need for validation relatable; me too girlie. really well plotted. don’t be fooled by the title though: it’s a lot of internal monologue and more about the conversations that didn’t happen than the ones that did.

i have to comment on the US cover, especially for the audiobook (storygraph shows a different one but you can see what i’m talking about here: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DTekX2n4L._SL500_.jpg). first of all, i don’t mind the composition but i dislike the art style, its flatness and lifelessness when this book is all about complex characters. but what really bothers me is that i think some other artist was given the task of adapting the cover art to a square aspect ratio for the audiobook, and literally copied, pasted, and mirrored the original tightly-cropped faces, adding in the nose bits. because, why are they so symmetrical?? why are their facial features so small?? it’s firmly in the uncanny valley. shoutout to the Danish cover, though, so pretty: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/0bf9c4f3-3123-4d7b-a6b5-8955ff06e5f6
edit: the Russian hardcover is also beautiful: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/183d6a3b-d207-4cfb-aa9e-e36bc6df3f84 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

leavesofmytree's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Self harm

Minor: Child abuse and Infertility

maarigirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I found this easy to read quickly but this has got to be Sally Rooney's most unlikeable set of characters. It's almost like she's insisting throughout the book that these characters are awful. Frances, the main character has good things going for her but she never seems to care or show gratitude. Frankly, she seemed extremely depressed which was depressing to read. Reading her perspective on life made me hate life so I would not recommend this book if you want to feel better about the world or if you are already depressed.
What I liked about this book is the lack of plot because I don't like reading anything too stressful (but this might also be because I didn't really care what happened to the characters). I also think this could be a good read for anyone in university who is feeling a bit lost. This book won't help you feel less lost but at least you'll find solace in Frances' struggles.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism and Child abuse

_tee_'s review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

1.5

were you meant to despise every character and event in this book, longing to finish? (i especially despised bobbi) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Abortion, Alcohol, and War

kdscolley's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

2.5

Rooney's writing style is so hard for me to read, but I wanted to give it another shot. So, I chose to listen to this on audio. It was hard to see the battle Frances was going through with trauma from her history, and I found I was constantly trying to cheer her on and root for her to be more open. I think it was hard for me to read because I related to the feeling of wanting to remain closed off and not a burden to anyone else. It's easy to mask that feeling as an "independent woman" when really you're struggling inside. 

Though I could relate, and it was nice to see the relationship as normal, I think I just struggled with the way it was written

and the cheating element

. I just can't get past the frustration I have with those.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Self harm, and Pregnancy

nabila99's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Classism