Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

17 reviews

amris's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Pedophilia

alyssaakdefusco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

An unflinching look at what it meant to be gay in mid century Ireland, but not without plenty of hope and love. There were plenty of brutal moments, but there was a surprising amount of humor throughout. The through-line of a separated family weaved in with the theme of found family was really beautiful. A tad too long but it was worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Outing

Moderate: Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

fed's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

freydawreviews's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Grief

ebba94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Toxic friendship

joensign's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Dementia

brysonchristina1's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.5

It's well written, but I did not enjoy this book for a second. Majority of the characters are insufferable.

Only a man would try to victimize the adult man in a relationship with a 16yro girl.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I picked this book up as a buddy read with a friend.
"The Heart's Invisible Furies" follows Cyril throughout his life. He was adopted by a wealthy family when he was a baby, but his adoptive father made it very clear that Cyril is not a real Avery. Being adopted at such a young age, being held at an arm's length by his adoptive parents, and going through adolescence just trying to uncover who he is all together made Cyril really struggle with his identity. This book is an exploration of self and what it means to be home.
This book was heartbreaking, devastating, and provided amazing content for discussion. Cyril had a challenging life of never really fitting in, and to top it all off, he discovers he is gay. Being gay in Ireland in the 1940s was not acceptable and being openly gay invited unwanted violence. Cyril tried to repress who he was for so long because he knew how dangerous it was, which is so devastating, but provides important historical context for gay history. This was a very real fear for many individuals until more recently, but even in today's world, there are places where it is not safe to be openly gay. Though this is a huge part of Cyril's identity, I really enjoyed that this was not the only element of identity explored in the novel.
Cyril is not the perfect character, he makes mistakes and hurts people throughout his life, but he does have a good heart and he tries to make the best decisions he can. He is almost painfully average, which makes him so relatable.
This book is ambitious with trying to cover a character's entire life, but I think it is executed beautifully. It did take me a little while to get into the story and really enjoy Cyril as a character. But, once I was invested in Cyril, I did not want to put this book down.
This book does explore some very heavy topics, so I do not recommend it for everyone, but it is a stunning novel and if you feel compelled, I do encourage you to read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

kersley's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

If a book made me cry during reading, it’s an instant 5 stars. What do I rate a book that made me ugly cry several times…

“The years apart will feel like nothing compared to what we have before us”

Also, it moved me a little to see my country being mentioned casually in the book (Mauritius) ♥️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Grief

peanutparker's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War