Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

18 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

this is incredibly dark and hard to read. this book is very very depressing but it’s a good and important story that shows a woman having to face her own racism, as well as the racism in her community, while searching for her missing daughter. there are no heroes in this story, and there is no happy ending. while this is a crime novel, it covers racism, politics, grief, and much more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

noladawnreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, and Pregnancy

rei_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

clellman's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Abortion

encryptedorchardpest's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide, and Kidnapping

Minor: Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

lorit1227's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Murder

mysterymom40's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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: Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

brooke_city's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

TW: racial slurs (seriously,  A LOT), racism, murder on page, drug use on page, addiction 

A simple plot with complex feelings. An ugly time in America's past; and present, tbh.

On the surface, it's about a mother's search for her daughter. At its core, it's a story of hate/hope. (I liked how Bobby put that: the opposite of hate isn't love, but hope.)

Mary Pat is a frustrating character to be in the head of. She fancies herself better than the other Southies who wear their racism on their sleeve, but she's just as quick to make snap judgments. She's one of those "you're a good Black, not like the others" racist.

As a reader, you can feel her desperation of wanting to know what happened to her daughter. And it takes her into some feelings she wouldn't otherwise have, had Jules not been involved in the murder of Auggie. And just when you think "she finally gets it," she slides right back into her whiteness and feeling of superiority.

It was important thar Mary Pat attend the funeral bc there were hard truths she needed to hear, a devastated community she needed to see. And I was glad that Auggie's parents didn't spare her feelings. They weren't the "model minority" to turn the other cheek and sing kumbaya bc they both lost children that night. Hope – represented by an intelligent young Black man, Auggie – was snuffed out that by hate – represented by Jules, who was pregnant by a married man, drug dealer, and pedophile. Stereotypes often associated with Black men.

Mary Pat fostered a home of hatred. Bobby's character is proof of nature vs nurture, bc despite his parents being dysfunctional, abusive drunks, they didn't tolerate racism. I think his relationship with Carmen shows that everyone can have baggage, preconceived notions, diff backgrounds – but can come together by communicating.

It's a heavy, heavy story. And I can't imagine anyone else but Robin Miles narrating it flawlessly. A Black woman delivering a dark time in our history with great inflection. Rage inducing and heartbreaking at the same time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship