Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

39 reviews

liesbethvv's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring tense 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? No

4.0

I read this book for a Reading Around The World bookclub and after our discussion, I kept my rating of 4 stars.
The Girl with the Louding Voice is the story of Adunni, a teenage girl being married off to an old man as a third wife who endures many hardships (do check the trigger warnings) but keeps insisting on trying to make life beter for herself and fighting for her education. She talks us through her experiences in her broken English, that gets better as she learns towards the end of the book. This is a gimmick that takes some getting used too, but certainly helped to transport me to Nigeria and Adunni's reality. 
Sometimes Adunni broaches societal issues in a way that I feel is too unrealistic for a 14yo girl with a basic education and that made it feel a little forced sometimes, with social criticism being mentioned too literal to my taste. On the other hand, some of her returns are quite insightful or just plain funny.
Adunni's story captivated me, moved me and made me hope for better for her and many others in her life.
One thing to note is that this book was written for a western audience, published in the UK and might not be very representative of Nigerian literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Abortion, Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Trafficking

Minor: Religious bigotry, Racism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Murder

wikikapusta's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Trafficking, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion

radfordmanor's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Slavery

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

annaledbetter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Slavery

Minor: Abortion and Excrement

Wow, what a fantastic read! Heartbreaking but also hopeful, Adunni just keeps getting up after being pushed down. I just had to keep reading to know how things turned out for her!

clairemariarose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

thought-provoking. heartbreaking. profound. brutal af to read, but ultimately worth it.

this gave me major a thousand splendid suns vibes, just because it’s a young girl dealing with so much that she didn’t deserve or ask for. but it’s also totally different in terms of culture and tone, so both are totally still valuable to read.

i think for me, the distinction between a 4 and a 5 star rating are very narrow. will i recommend this book? without a doubt. but will i read it again? doubtful. i just don’t want to relive this reading experience. it’s tough. it hurts. and while that pain is necessary to the story, it does push me back a bit.

but overall, wow. what a journey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

digitalnomadgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? No

5.0

Adored this book. Informative, heart warming and heartbreaking all in equal measure. Felt very observant and poetic but also had a really interesting and distinctive tone of voice. Definitely recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Death of parent, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Infertility, Grief, Death, Bullying, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion

atalea's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Slavery

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

secretsoup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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? No

4.0

This book was a rough read because of the rape and physical abuse, but I’m glad I stuck with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Excrement, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Torture

mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Overall, this is a good book with a story on the resiliency of a fourteen year old girl as she navigates the harsh realities of the country she grows up in. While it was a bit challenging to get into at the beginning, I grew used to the narrative choice of writing style and enjoyed the character development of the main character, Adunni. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Slavery, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent