Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore

5 reviews

kirstenpod_'s review

funny hopeful 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Child death

Minor: Medical content

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

This was one of the most heartwarming, relaxing and lighthearted (for the most part) books I ever read. I loved all of the major characters and how all of the lonely hearts found each other.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Child death

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Cursing, Medical trauma, Stalking, Alcohol, and Blood

lizzye33's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Gaslighting, Self harm, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, and Toxic friendship

emilywemily6's review

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

I really enjoyed this book! There is an emotionally diverse cast of characters in a sweet found family environment. Arthur’s banter was witty and the use of books/book quotes was really entertaining and insightful. This felt like a more lighthearted and shallower version of A Man Called Ove, but it wasn’t shallow by any means. So many moments made me laugh or smile, and it was such a joy to read. I liked having different perspectives/voices, though I wish that there was more depth of character in each of them; a lot of the character development felt rushed. The ending of the book also felt abrupt, but didn’t end on a cliffhanger that implies a future book, so it just felt a little incomplete. 

This scapegoating or APS (Adult Protective Services) bothered me too, as someone who works in the medical field. Medical providers legally cannot force a patient to stay in the hospital/receive treatment so Arthur had every right to do as he wished. In all my healthcare experience with APS, APS only gets involved when someone is abusing/neglecting a vulnerable adult. As a competent human, Arthur can decide what he wants to do even if it is harmful for his health. So that part of the storyline irked me.

While a few of these characters have suffered death of loved ones, none of them has a truly troubled life. They are ordinary people with ordinary problems and ordinary loneliness, nothing super traumatic (like drug abuse, sexual assault, murder, extreme poverty, etc.) which made them relatable and easy to read about in a lighthearted way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Medical content, Cursing, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

purplepenning's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

I was super close to DNFing in the first 50 pages, and I'm still wondering if that might've been the better choice. It's competently written, and I understand why others might like it, but there's something off and off-putting about this one, and I'm sorry to say I'm not going to devote any more time to it to try to figure it out. It's an "irascible/antisocial/curmudgeonly elder and other floundering figures connect and create a supportive community" story, of a sort I've certainly read and appreciated before — A Man Called Ove, The Authenticity Project, The Reading List, All the Lonely People, Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle. It's written in multiple points of view, which I also generally enjoy. The first section proved to be my least favorite POV, so I was hopeful that pushing through it would be worthwhile. It was... okay-ish. Interesting characters, whose back stories are basically the plot, and a moderately satisfying conclusion. I would've preferred fewer characters, more depth, more challenge to some of the casual cruelties and sexism, more humor, and a greater sense of sustainable growth and happiness at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Sexism, Grief, Medical content, Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail