Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride

37 reviews

myreadingiserratic's review against another edition

dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Stunning, poetic, harrowing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Vomit, and Cancer

bethancopeland's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

alisonkolonick's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Medical content, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

daretoread's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Bullying, Sexual violence, Death, and Infidelity

theartoflanguage's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Formally inventive and also one of the most emotionally brutal books I've read ever. That's a good thing, but makes for a challenging read. The shattered syntax is an effective illustration of the inexpressible trauma that underpins our narrator's every move. Just as she is half-formed, so the prose reflects and expresses her barely formed thoughts in start stop rhythm. Absolutely brilliant!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Suicide, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Cancer

pessimistically_optimist's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Grief

kthnlb's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual content, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Abandonment, Vomit, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Death of parent, Death, Cancer, and Blood

thecolourblue's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Quite a hard book to give a rating or a review to. I actually really admire the neomodernist experimentation with writing and form that McBride does here. I've seen some reviewers say that it's unreadable, but I don't think it is. It's challenging, but if you stop trying to read it like normal sentences and read it more as verse or stream-of-thought it becomes actually a quite clear and effective expression of the main character's state of mind. 

The story itself is a distorted fever dream of abuse and misery. It's certainly not enjoyable to read. Could be classed as tragedy porn if not for the disjointed writing taking away any air of sensationalism. I'm also not sure how I felt about the depiction of the brother's brain injury and disability. The character of the brother never really seemed to have any agency or presence outside of his impact on the main characters life (though that could be true of any presence in this book - the focus is very much on the single titular Girl), and I would be interested in how disabled folks feel about this book given how much of a key point disability and illness is in it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Ableism

Moderate: Child abuse

harleyburch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

How would they ever understand my life is more than cider? Complex than that. Fuller deeper richer. Irritation that. Something. Not as good as me in the back of my head.

When I read that this was an experimental novel, I didn't expect it to be quite so jarring. At first, I saw this as a negative; I felt as if the style was drawing me away from the characters rather than into their lives. It wasn't until the end of the novel that the grammar-less stream-of-consciousness style started to speak to me. It was this disjointed use of the language that put me at such unease. Strikingly, this book is bleak - very bleak. Our nameless narrator is subjected to terrible events that become relentless as she slowly but surely tugs us into her head. I had no idea how a book written like this without much plot could end but the ending - while still very bleak - was impressive and memorable. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone (definitely pay attention to the content warnings) but it was a challenged yet insightful experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Medical content, Suicide, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Violence

liolucia's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Sexual assault, Cancer, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship