Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox

3 reviews

transcendent's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

After loving Fox's debut and having it be my highest rated book for a good bit, I had some high hopes for The Quiet and the Loud however it felt like such a muddy, mish mash of different things the author wanted to state their contention on as quickly as they physically could. 

I genuinely despised the best friend in this book and felt like whatever message was being broadcast through her storyline (which was blurry at best) was overshadowed by her name taking up most of my page- ALTHOUGH I UNDERSTAND ITS SUPPOSED TO! I just don't think I'm meant to have this much disdain for a fictional pregnant person.
 
The general messages that were being put out were also so insane, like I had to remind myself if it was about the Australian government's lack of care for the climate, abortion rights/pregnancy rights, the harrowing subjects of domestic abuse/violence, family abuse/violence, addiction and how it's normalised in the context of the Australian home, being part of the LGBTQIA community as an adult and a youth

(?)(which. felt so performative at a certain point)

, being a POC in the protest space and the freaking class divide in Sydney.

I have no final thoughts I'm going to go watch a tv show to get rid of Tess's insane plotline out of my head. It will be a talking point over coffee with my friends. Like would I have enjoyed this book more without the best friend.... Yes, probably! I'm so mad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty and Physical abuse

neliadiedenise's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

czoltak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

3.0

I cannot believe this wasn’t a 5⭐️ read 😭
Helena Fox’s previous novel, How It Feels to Float, was such an important story for me and one of my all time absolute favorite books. This just fell flat in comparison. The story was wonderfully written as Fox’s writing style is so magical and heartbreakingly beautiful. However, the actual story was just so lackluster. I don’t mind a character driven story, especially since that was what How It Feels To Float was, but when the characters are not well fleshed out and some are incredibly infuriating, it’s hard to enjoy the actual book. Tess, Georgia’s “friend”, is one of the most insufferable characters I’ve ever read about, and her father was somehow even worse. I am so disappointed 😔

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Car accident