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Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
If you could get passed all of that - I do think there were some really impactful parts of the book. I struggled to feel like this was believable at times because of the amount of traumatic things that happened to Cyril and the close people in his life so often. Did I think all of those things could happen yes - did I think they could happen to one person in one lifetime? Not particularly. That made it hard to stay in the story.
Once Cyril went to Amsterdam though I found the book really coming into its own. I was clearly interested enough to see what happened at the end but it was a struggle to get through at times. The ending was lovely and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book - I would just power through the first bit of the book if you want to fully enjoy it!
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Abandonment
Moderate: Misogyny
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Kidnapping
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Dementia
"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.
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, Injury/Injury detail
“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) ♥️
Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder
The beginning is very cataclysmic. From the pregnant 16 year old girl being called a whore and thrown out of a church by the priest to a father killing his own son for being gay. But you have to see all the hate and bigotry to appreciate the story of Cyril Avery and of Catherine Goggin. They are incredibly strong people.
The epilogue destroyed me. It was probably the most tragically beautiful part of the whole book. But in it, Ireland has changed forever as we have known it and there is hope for the next generation.
The book is broke up into seven sections, each at a different place in Cyril Avery’s life. I loved this aspect of the book because you can see how, not only is Cyril changing, but also how Ireland is changing.
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Homophobia, child prostitution, violence against homosexuals, violence, religious extremism, hate crime, religious bigotry, misogyny, suicidal thoughts/ideations, sexism, chronic illness, infidelity, chronic Illness, child abuse, child death, rape, sexual violence, police brutality, pedophilia, death of parent
Graphic: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent