Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

162 reviews

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Abandonment

bookishchef's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

So I gave this a 4,5 when I originally read it. 

But I have since then v much changed my mind about TJ Klune and whether I condone him taking the Sixties Scoop as a form of inspiration. 

So now it's 2 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

samothraces's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Hate crime, and Physical abuse

cibani's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

julesadventurezone's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

brittany_jean's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The book took a different path than I expected.

It was a little too naive and sweet for me. Once I figured this out, it became sort of predictable. But I did highlight many of Arthur’s quotes, and I loved watching Linus grow into his own strong, outspoken self.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Xenophobia

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Child abuse

atlas_shruggs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

V. E. Schwab described this book like getting wrapped in a warm, gay blanket, and going into this book it was exactly what I needed. It was warm, it was comforting, it was jarring, it was uncomfortable, it was like lying on a cloud or dancing with rainbows. It was so vibrant. The shift from the scenes in the city to the scenes in Marsyas felt like switching from black and white to a world of technicolour. The character creation was beautiful, and watching them blossom over the course of the book felt like I was watching something wonderful happening before my very eyes. 
I don’t feel like I can give this book a more solid review. It was perfect. It was a feeling more than a thought. I loved every moment of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

haindfielda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

Just a great book. It’s well written, many lines read like poetry, but also heart wrenching and made me ugly cry. So good, lovable, characters with faults and quirks. Makes you feel like you experience it with the characters with the captivating imagery used. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Xenophobia

Minor: Body shaming, Homophobia, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

nicole_schmid's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

(As I was not aware, at the time of reading, of the quite horrifying implications of taking genocide on Native American peoples as inspiration about such a rather light-hearted story, this fact is not taken into consideration in my review.)

This book was quite slow and seemed to drag on, but it also seemed realistic. Linus is a man used to routine and a monotonous life. That this might be mirrored in his recountings makes sense. Not having read any other of Klune's works, I cannot say whether this is intentional or not. It also seemed to easy at times: There is a village that hates everyone from the island. But do not worry, they just need to talk to them to understand that they are normal people, too, though they might look different, and voilà - wide-spread acceptance! Linus holds the power of suggesting doing things differently or at all and it all working out in the end as if by magic.

It is great to see Linus become aware of the systematic unfairness of the system he's working in and then actively see him take a stance against it. I would have prefered it if it went beyond

a brief reveal that he took all files to a reporter to reveal how bad the system is à la wikileaks

, but I understand that this is not a story about fighting against a discriminatory system, it's a story about two men meeting and falling in love. The intrigue behind Arthur's identity draws you in and makes you guess along.

Overall, though I had wished for a faster pace, I quite enjoyed this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, and Religious bigotry

izzybell's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent