Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Sea Elephants by Shastri Akella

5 reviews

thatchickengirl23'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Death, Grief, Child death, Homophobia, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Death of parent, Body shaming, Bullying, Outing, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical trauma, Abandonment, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexism, Misogyny, and Alcohol

Minor: Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Racism

morybaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Forced institutionalization

jareadforfilth's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Outing, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Confinement, and Bullying

amobrien's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.5

There's so much that happens that it's hard for me to even describe. If you're looking for a lighthearted coming-of-age, this isn't the book for you. The Sea Elephants is, at times, incredibly difficult to read. Shagun's story is propelled by his grief and guilt after the deaths of his twin sisters. His relationship with his remaining family is strained, made even more difficult as Shagun struggles with his sexuality.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Confinement, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, and Bullying

Minor: Police brutality, Hate crime, and Incest

pastelmeganes's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad 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? No

3.75

Spoilers ahead:

So i enjoyed the concept of the story but some aspects of execution I felt were a miss. I enjoyed the concept of what the author was going for with the mix of religion as well as the identity of his sexuality playing a part in his craft with acting but I felt the main character wasn’t very likable. Perhaps that was intentional but I felt it hard to enjoy his journey at times. 

I was enthralled and captivated immensely more in the beginning up until he left school. I felt saddened for him while at the boarding school that his body imagery was constantly a point of ridicule but I felt it was realistic sadly of boy behavior. 

The main character battled a lot with grief; specifically with the lost of his sisters. In a way, he lost everyone in his family but at the cost of him accepting himself which is a sad reality of many LGBT+ individuals specially in countries with strict laws against LGBT folks. 

The whole conversion therapy camp situation was incredibly disheartening and very graphic. Im glad his cauldron friend was able to find a median with his identity and family and meet the main character again.

I would give this originally a 4/5 however the middle of the book started to get long winded and i HATE story arcs with misunderstandings personally so I had to knock it down a bit for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Grief, Sexual assault, and Torture

Moderate: Outing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Death