Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Milkman by Anna Burns

5 reviews

momisty24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, War, and Classism

notthatcosta's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I find this one tough to review because there were aspects that I absolutely loved (the world building and the social commentary around the Troubles). However, I found the writing style almost unbearable at points (the stream of consciousness prose, the long-winded way of addressing characters, the timeline jumps).

The bottom line is that I didn't really like a single character in the book, and even the protagonist made some infuriating decisions at points and overall my feeling was 'this place is not for you, you are above these people and you need to get the hell out of there' - which although a simplification, seemed preferable to sticking around in such a place. Also, her mum was a total arsehole and I don't know if I was supposed to like her, but I certainly didn't. 

Overall, I'm glad I read it, and I feel like most of the aspects I took issue with were at least strong intentional stylistic choices made by the author, and I can always respect a big swing.

Oh and ALSO, the random 11th hour gay subplot was egregious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

annick's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense slow-paced

4.25

I was really moved by the writing style and the narrator with Belfast accent. The meandering and proustian narrative was one to embrace. But I did struggle to stay focused on the book. I had previously attempted to read it three time before I finally finished it. 

The collective and generational traumas of sectarian violence has so many layers of pain and numbness and miscommunication in this book. The narrator’s experience of being stalked by an unwanted older man, becomes hard to bear when she reveals she is  misunderstood and cannot trust any others to help her escape this situation with Milkman. 

I enjoyed the writing style.  No names but descriptions. But who was Jason ? And Neil? They were mentioned near the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Gaslighting

schopflin's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-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

Milkman is brilliant, clever, moving and funny. I must say the depiction of the claustrophobic society was so effective I felt like I was being strangled and had to take a few breaks. But still hugely recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

sophiemgprice's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder