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lizardgod's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Bullying, Pregnancy, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Medical content, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, and Medical trauma
lexx_reads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Very heavy with a hopeful ending. Bleak and dark through out. Find yourself simultaneously hoping for the main character and disliking them
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Vomit
mayasr's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
made me sob to think of the neglected children who just need to be loved
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Domestic abuse, Death, Child abuse, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
blueyogi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child abuse, Murder, Child death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Bullying and Domestic abuse
hayleyvharrington'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Kidnapping, Bullying, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Abortion
galbraith's review
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An incredibly gripping story, which explores how ordinary people get pushed into committing unspeakable deeds.
Perfect for readers who enjoy flawed protagonists, and novels which are able to tackle sad subjects, without becoming unrelentingly miserable.
Perfect for readers who enjoy flawed protagonists, and novels which are able to tackle sad subjects, without becoming unrelentingly miserable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Child abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Classism, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
cateyeschloe's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
I read this book twice back to back.
It’s taken me some time and a second read to fully process everything this book made me feel, considering it made me feel A LOT. Which is exactly what I look for in a book - something I can emotionally connect with that makes me feel real things. That’s a huge A+ for me.
However, that definitely doesn’t dampen just how brutally dark, tragic, and devastating this book is.
The First Day of Spring delves into the ripple affects that mental abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, malnutrition, and genetic mental issues can cause in the life of a young child.
Chrissie is only eight years old when we meet her and we are introduced as she is murdering another child. From that point on, the book leaps into Chrissie’s history and begs the reader to consider many questions.
Who would Chrissie be if she were cared for, loved, and not mistreated?
What are the responsibilities of individuals on the outside? The ones looking in who only see glimpses of the tell-tale signs of abuse and neglect? How far should they go to reach out and truly try to help an individual - especially a child - in need?
Is it truly best for a child to stay with their biological parents if one or both parents are mentally ill or in some way simply unable to take care of their child the way they should?
Is it okay for a child to stay with their biological parent who has mental health struggles, but, despite that, is putting in the work to cope and do the best they can to raise their child?
This book paints a very clear picture in the ways, often, that school systems, adoption agencies, police, and children protective services fail children who most desperately need help. How could we, as a society, reform these institutions to better support and care for children in need? What resources could we supply teachers, for instance, with where they could not only better care for kids in school but perhaps even extend help for kids who need it at home?
My first read through, I read this book in a day. The pace is little slower than some, but I didn’t find it sluggish or difficult to get through at all. In fact, I would say the style of writing in this book is some of the best I’ve ever encountered. It manages to blend beauty and poetry with themes of pain and tragedy. I absolutely have to praise the author for an outstanding job of creating prose that is elegant and eloquent despite the devastating scenes she delivers to the reader.
I found Chrissie’s internal thought process and the way in which she navigates the world to be both fascinating and, at times, unfortunately relatable. If you live with certain forms of mental illness or disorder or if you lived with abuse or neglect growing up, you will definitely find many instances where you can relate to some of Chrissie’s experiences.
One of the only “flaws” I noticed with this book is the pervasive use of the word “fat” as an insult or derogatory word. However, ninety-nine percent of these instances are out of the mouth of a young child who has a severe eating disorder and malnutrition. I believe the language is used with the intention of showing the child’s envy that other kids are actually being fed and perhaps even because the malnourished child is so thin that everyone else looks “fat” to their perspective. Nonetheless, the presence of fatphobia is sprinkled throughout.
The only other issue I noticed in this book was the term “Chinese burn”, which is used twice. I’ve never heard this term, myself, but I do live in the US so perhaps it’s more of a UK phrase. The phrase seems to have the same connotation as “Indian burn” had here in the US, from what I can find online, and because of this I can only assume it’s an outdated, culturally insensitive phrase that probably could have been easily replaced.
Overall, I think this is an excellent book that I will probably read again in the future. The author delves into much deeper topics than just the murder of a child, and the intricacies of the story are what kept me deeply invested from start to finish.
There is a lot of nuance in this book and I would definitely recommend not forming judgments as you read but considering every situation from multiple avenues. Chrissie is not always a reliable narrator and it’s important to be able to determine the ways in which things might not always be as she presents them.
There are definitely a lot of trigger warnings for this book, and I recommend checking them out if you have any concerns before venturing in.
It’s taken me some time and a second read to fully process everything this book made me feel, considering it made me feel A LOT. Which is exactly what I look for in a book - something I can emotionally connect with that makes me feel real things. That’s a huge A+ for me.
However, that definitely doesn’t dampen just how brutally dark, tragic, and devastating this book is.
The First Day of Spring delves into the ripple affects that mental abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, malnutrition, and genetic mental issues can cause in the life of a young child.
Chrissie is only eight years old when we meet her and we are introduced as she is murdering another child. From that point on, the book leaps into Chrissie’s history and begs the reader to consider many questions.
Who would Chrissie be if she were cared for, loved, and not mistreated?
What are the responsibilities of individuals on the outside? The ones looking in who only see glimpses of the tell-tale signs of abuse and neglect? How far should they go to reach out and truly try to help an individual - especially a child - in need?
Is it truly best for a child to stay with their biological parents if one or both parents are mentally ill or in some way simply unable to take care of their child the way they should?
Is it okay for a child to stay with their biological parent who has mental health struggles, but, despite that, is putting in the work to cope and do the best they can to raise their child?
This book paints a very clear picture in the ways, often, that school systems, adoption agencies, police, and children protective services fail children who most desperately need help. How could we, as a society, reform these institutions to better support and care for children in need? What resources could we supply teachers, for instance, with where they could not only better care for kids in school but perhaps even extend help for kids who need it at home?
My first read through, I read this book in a day. The pace is little slower than some, but I didn’t find it sluggish or difficult to get through at all. In fact, I would say the style of writing in this book is some of the best I’ve ever encountered. It manages to blend beauty and poetry with themes of pain and tragedy. I absolutely have to praise the author for an outstanding job of creating prose that is elegant and eloquent despite the devastating scenes she delivers to the reader.
I found Chrissie’s internal thought process and the way in which she navigates the world to be both fascinating and, at times, unfortunately relatable. If you live with certain forms of mental illness or disorder or if you lived with abuse or neglect growing up, you will definitely find many instances where you can relate to some of Chrissie’s experiences.
One of the only “flaws” I noticed with this book is the pervasive use of the word “fat” as an insult or derogatory word. However, ninety-nine percent of these instances are out of the mouth of a young child who has a severe eating disorder and malnutrition. I believe the language is used with the intention of showing the child’s envy that other kids are actually being fed and perhaps even because the malnourished child is so thin that everyone else looks “fat” to their perspective. Nonetheless, the presence of fatphobia is sprinkled throughout.
The only other issue I noticed in this book was the term “Chinese burn”, which is used twice. I’ve never heard this term, myself, but I do live in the US so perhaps it’s more of a UK phrase. The phrase seems to have the same connotation as “Indian burn” had here in the US, from what I can find online, and because of this I can only assume it’s an outdated, culturally insensitive phrase that probably could have been easily replaced.
Overall, I think this is an excellent book that I will probably read again in the future. The author delves into much deeper topics than just the murder of a child, and the intricacies of the story are what kept me deeply invested from start to finish.
There is a lot of nuance in this book and I would definitely recommend not forming judgments as you read but considering every situation from multiple avenues. Chrissie is not always a reliable narrator and it’s important to be able to determine the ways in which things might not always be as she presents them.
There are definitely a lot of trigger warnings for this book, and I recommend checking them out if you have any concerns before venturing in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, and Body shaming
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing
There is an extensive use of the word “fat” as a derogatory term and as an insult in this book. Ninety-nine percent of these instances are out of the mouth of a young child who has a severe eating disorder and malnutrition. I believe the language is used with the intention of showing the child’s envy that the other kids are being fed and perhaps even because the malnourished child is so thin that everyone else looks “fat” to their perspective. It is very pervasive language used in the book, though.
Death / murder in the book is very vivid and detailed, though not particularly gruesome nor bloody at all.
There are a few brief scenes of domestic abuse involving physical violence, seen through the perspective of a child.
There is one scene between two minors, the girl being 8 and the boy being 12, in which the girl offers to let the boy put his hand inside her underwear. He does and just leaves his hand there for a few moments before leaving, supposedly embarrassed.
There is one scene in the book that talks about an adult’s first time having sex. The adult doesn’t really seem to have much of an understanding of what sex is or how it works, and this definitely creates a sense of dubious consent, at best. This character never seems to enjoy the act, either, and the entire scene is intentionally very uncomfortable.
gnorris29's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child abuse, Bullying, Child death, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
caliallena's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book feels like a punch in the gut. Lots of deep, dark undertones throughout the entire story that leaves you conflicted about how to really feel about the main character Chrissie/Julia. Kept me hooked though, was able to get through it over a weekend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Vomit and Abandonment
emilyppolk's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism