Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

22 reviews

njlbo1's review

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Child abuse, Murder, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Violence

rnbhargava's review

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

4.0

The narrative and mysteries were very engaging once it got going. The nature of online interactions in relation to popular pieces of media is fertile ground for storytelling. That said, the in game chats were a bit of a slog when broken up into 2-3 conversations happening near simultaneous. Yes, I didn’t mind flipping back and forth on pages but it took some adjusting. The characterizations are all really good. Seeing how all these different types of personalities could be prone to certain types of toxic online behavior was entertaining. I will say that one of the storylines is a bit hard to get by given it specifically involves kids. The side cases were good for highlighting the different contractors personalities. I liked that the entire main case was largely about people being manipulated by someone charismatic online. That all said, the book is lengthy and it could have been tightened up 200-300 pages or at least some of the game chat chapters could have been combined or tightened. 

Overall, I enjoyed it. Another good book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Classism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Bullying, Gore, Death, Gaslighting, Torture, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Racism, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Sexism

See all the triggers for the types of grotesque things discussed and done to characters because of the online and in real life sketchiness of people associated with the cases and to a degree with people in the characters’ lives

sauvageloup's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

firstly Rowling has shit political views. we all know this. I do feel bad reading this but I got it from the library and shes getting no profit from me. unfortunately shes a good writer.

pros:
- very gripping, couldn't put down
- characters were interesting and complex overall 
- did a convincing job of showing online spaces

cons:
- the sheer pettiness underlying lots of her comments is a lot. the whole plotline is narcissistic. I get the point shes trying to make (toxic online spaces driving innocent creators to misery. bad ppl hiding building up gullible fans with claims of creator's being homophobic/racist/ableist, etc. ppl being blinded by this that they miss true predators, sexists and racists) but it misses all the joy of online friends, and generally reads like shes bitter about the criticism.
- she also misses the very real need for criticism. she mocks "SJWs" but her own views could be called that by some alt right. she's determined to see that fans are acting as a mob with no critical thinking skills, where I think shes blinded by confirmation bias and her ego and lacks the ability to be compassionate and tolerant. anyway. her views are made very clear in the book and it feels petty.
- underwhelming ending, not helped by me thinking for some reason that this one the last one. was disappointed.
- its dragged too long now. think this should've been last one for sure.

overall, disappointing and frustrating, because it was good up until a sour end, much like her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Racism, Pedophilia, Murder, Grief, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Blood, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Violence, Stalking, Sexism, Mental illness, Medical content, Homophobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Bullying, and Body shaming

lukerik's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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

First I’d like to whinge about the ebook version. I had to get this because since the lockdowns I no longer have the upper body strength for the hardback. Part of the novel takes place online and there are mocked-up screen shot style illustrations of in-game chat, sometimes with three channels open at once. These illustrations have been imported to the epub as image files, which is a nice touch. Unfortunately they are too small to be seen by the human eye, which is what I am equipped with. To counter this, the images are transcribed afterwards in normal ebook text. There are some formatting errors: sometimes the first line of the transcription is in a larger font. Also, the three conversations are sort of run on and jumbled up with each other which is extremely confusing. I recognise that this is a formatter’s nightmare, but we’re dealing here with one of the top authors of one of the largest publishing houses in the world and I’m sure better solutions were available. In the worst sin, one short part of the text does not appear in the transcription at all. I had to get my Compact OED microscope to read the screen. At this point, after an awful lot of mucking around, I was able to find settings that brought the text with the range of vision, but I don’t think this will be possible with all ereaders nor all eyes. Perhaps Hachette will deign to push out emended files to their customers. While they’re at it they can correct the spelling error in one of the chapter headings and add the word ‘had’ which is missing from one of the novel’s many sentences. 

So the novel takes place partly online. A massive risk. It could have gone terribly wrong, but somehow Rowling pulls it off. It’s generally an accomplished novel, with tight control over the great sprawl of it. If anything I think it’s these sections of the novel which will best bear re-reading as the central mystery is the real-world identities behind the handles. And they’re fully integrated into the themes of the novel with consists of contradictory counterparts. On the one hand you have the anonymity of the online life and it’s strange intimacy with people who may not be who they seem. Contrasted with this is the relationship of Strike and Robin whose lives are so intimately entwined, yet they never say what they really feel, often not even to themselves. Also it’s a very funny book, the humour contrasted with the grottiness of London life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Ableism, Alcohol, Bullying, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, and Medical content

kathrynamonett's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death, Chronic illness, Ableism, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Racism, Eating disorder, Antisemitism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Child abuse, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

I love the Cormoran Strike series. Rowling (aka, Galbraith) is an accomplished storyteller who can handle multiple characters and a complex storyline. Here she shows a facility with online gaming that, to me as a non-gamer, is mind-boggling. While I really respect her talent, I found the story so complex that I need to go back and reread this to see what I missed. Definitely recommend the entire series starting with The Cuckoo’s Calling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Medical trauma, Racism, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Blood, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Antisemitism, Cursing, Gore, Hate crime, and Mental illness

proceduralbob's review

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Ableism

Moderate: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Bullying, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

librariangeorgia's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

I bloody loved this book - it’s another great addition to the series!

There’s a lot more character development for Strike and Robin whilst keeping it in line with what you’d expect for them. Strike keeps his moody persona whilst the story brings in more about his amputation and how he’s struggling. Robin being a partner and it (finally) being accepted by the team - though outsiders will still go for Strike as apposed to her but she does handle it really well.

Being set in 2015, the mentions of Tumblr was a real throwback for me! All the social media and game chats were a great addition in telling the story, though it did take a while for me to get the hang of which order to read them in.

For the killer, I did have an inking who it was. This was purely based on the details they gave in the game chat relating to the kind of person they acted like, how Strike and Robin described them and then matching that up with each of the characters that had been mentioned and how often the appeared in the book.

My only real complaint is how long the book is! It’s extremely detailed, which I liked and was really engrossed in, but at the same time it just felt like it was never going to end! I did actually take my time reading this book though, knowing from the previous 5 just how detailed they can be and I didn’t want to miss any details by skim reading it.

I am extremely excited to see this book adapted for the TV series and I cannot wait for the next book, I just need to know what happens next with Strike and Robin!

* I do not support the author or agree with their views *

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Cancer, Bullying, Child abuse, Ableism, Rape, and Animal cruelty

rlcavana's review

slow-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, and Body shaming

kirstym25's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Body shaming

Moderate: Child abuse and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Transphobia