Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Heart's Invisible Furies

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

6 reviews

ahsensbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

the story begins in 1945 in ireland with a baby in his mom’s belly. it’s a men’s world which mean a cruel world where women have no value no dignity and homosexual people are seen as sinful creatures. we read cyril’s story as he tries to find his spot on this world as a person as a boy, as a young man and as an adult. the only thing that anchor him to this world is his feelings for his childhood friend julian.

it is so hard to articulate my feelings for this book. it is the most heart-breaking book i’ve read in 2023. i knew how sad i’d be even in the beginning of it because this book is centered around so many upsetting events. all the problems women go through, all the hate and violence homosexual people had to face was so hard to read. but still, i’ve read it in a few days. each chapter is seven years apart from the previous one so we get to witness cyril’s life with all the ups and downs. his love for julian, his coming of age struggles, how he find happiness and how he get to be with his family after all those years made me feel so many emotions. it was so interesting to read the change that happened in ireland throughout years and i loved how the author draw attention to AIDS which was a global problem at the time.

if you are looking for a sad sad sad book to shatter your soul you must pick up this book but please check out the trigger warnings before you do!

Content Warnings

snwalsh's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

This book is amazing. I loved the voice, and even though I didn't really care about Cyril's life at first, he grew on me. Cyril is a flawed character, that hurts and gets hurt by others, but fundamentally he just wants to live a good life. I think the only thing that gives me pause about this book is all of the "coincidences". I feel like they were just gotcha moments that weren't well thought out, and were ways to bring characters together without having an organic way of putting them together. It felt very passive, and unbelievable, which seemed to be the opposite of the lessons that Cyril learned in his life (not being passive, working for what you want, being transparent, etc). Otherwise it's an incredible book.

Content Warnings