Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

15 reviews

01ivia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Animal death, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, and Sexual content

Minor: Murder, Drug use, and Addiction

araowl's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

    "The Rabbit Hutch" is a contemporary debut about the inhabitants of a deteriorating rust belt apartment building. Although the novel jumps around to multiple POVs, the book is mainly about a precocious young girl named Blandine and her three male roommates who all recently aged out of the foster care system.
    This book deals with heavy themes related to sexual and physical abuse, trauma, and the gentrification of a dying Indiana city. As someone from Indiana, the way the author described the setting felt extremely accurate and hit close to home. These rust belt towns are places of rusty chain-link fences, random rubber shoes on the road, and broken glass covering every street corner. They're places where people born into poverty often never get a chance to leave. Blandine is extremely intelligent and had a rare opportunity to transcend this small town through academic achievement, but unfortunately, the effects of abuse and trauma make that kind of thing easier said than done. 
    Overall, every character in this book is ultimately searching for meaning and human connection. A current of loneliness and existential dread pulse through the entire story. The book is often satirically witty, and has a lot of commentary on the wildness of the internet and the detrimental effects of late-stage capitalism on both humans and the environment. I found the themes extremely resonant and thought-provoking, and the characters richly detailed and compelling.  The only criticism I have is that some of the character's stories felt a little underdeveloped, but I definitely see how each and every character contributed to the overall meaning of the book.
    I recommend this book to anyone that likes modern literary fiction, witty and irreverent writing, and intelligent social commentary. I'd definitely steer clear if you are sensitive to depictions of sexual abuse, violence, and trauma - or if you just prefer your fiction on the more lighthearted and plot-driven side.



    

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Blood and Mental illness

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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

3.5

This was parts funny, parts pathetic (not in the looser sense but in the sense it emoted empathy from me), and parts despicable. The ending was sad for me (that was pathetic, for example). But getting to the end was largely amusing, but only if I removed myself from the characters (usually, I read as if I was a fly on the wall, but in this case, I often found myself being a fly on the other side of a window). If I’d been in the house, it would’ve been far too pathetic and far too despicable and hence, too hard to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Death

abisnail564's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

2.5

Bit too weird for me. The ending brought it together but definitely too long chapters and too many miserable characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, Death, Animal cruelty, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Drug use, and Death of parent

Minor: Abortion and Suicidal thoughts

theflowergarden's review against another edition

slow-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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Gaslighting and Death of parent

Minor: Rape

ashar_allaire's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.75

I have mixed feelings about this book. I listened to it as an audio book, which I made it hard for me to keep track of all the characters and loose threads. That being said, I am sure I would've DNFed this in physical form because some chapters were over an hour long. I loved the story, and I found each character interesting, I just found myself being like "Wait, what? Who is talking? What's happening?" way too much. 

The end of this book is predictable by design, but I still found it anticlimactic. James never confesses, and Joan never felt fleshed out enough for it to end with her. The reason the sacrifices continued was never clear to me. It felt like I had to suspend my disbelief quite a bit as it was a clunky plot point at best. I am also not sure why the older couple or Hope were included, but maybe I just missed something there.

I genuinely did love this book overall and the opening chapter was the most beautiful opening chapter I have ever read. The prose is unique and powerful. I would recommend it with the warning that it is dense and difficult to keep track of at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

mmccombs's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely stunning writing and a wonderfully complex layering of themes. Just knocked me out from the very start!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Death of parent

jabakken's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Alcohol

lindsayerin's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death

emmas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I found this novel super interesting and thought provoking. The author experimented a lot with form and for me, in some places it worked and in some places it didn’t… I think I would have liked more consistency but I can appreciate what she tried to do. I wouldn’t recommend this if you don’t like lit fic (literary fiction), but it does get at a lot of important topics in our society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Drug use