Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak

60 reviews

12grace4's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Self harm and Sexual assault

hevs_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Violence, Trafficking, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Transphobia, and Xenophobia

Minor: Self harm

alomie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

A story of a woman's life as told through her memories in the last 10 minutes and 38 seconds as her brain shuts down.

I found this story very moving and hard to read in parts a tragic story and her abrupt death. There is hope mixed in there with the 5 friends and their stories but also some great sadness.

A comment on Sex work in Istanbul, the struggles of the trans community and the harsh realities of a repressed nation and its obvious disdain for women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Addiction, Child death, Homophobia, Grief, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death, Incest, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Self harm

manasvini's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

3.75

What I liked:
The concept, the narrative, the cast of diverse characters and stories, the vivid and immersive descriptions of Istanbul

What I disliked:
The sheer amount of trauma, which almost started feeling like sensationalism, especially when accompanied with little to no reflection on it. (I wish I had read the trigger warnings before hand.) How much the first part slogged in comparison to the second and third parts. 

It was a good read but does not make me motivated to read other works by Shafak.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Drug use, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Car accident, Cursing, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infertility, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Torture

amaya_jam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Sexual content, Confinement, and Self harm

Minor: Trafficking and Child death

sallythereadinggirl's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Elif Shafaks Roman "Unerhörte Stimmen" macht seinem deutschen Titel alle Ehre. Shafak schafft es, uns nicht nur die Geschichte der Hauptperson Leila näherzubringen, sondern auch die der fünf Freunde. Aber auch die Geschichten vieler weiteren Personen werden angerissen und man erhält somit Einblicke in so viele verscheidene Leben und Realitäten, wenn auch oft nur sehr kurze Einblicke, wie in keinem anderen Roman. Man sieht praktisch von oben auf ganz viele verschiedene Menschen und deren Schicksale herab und ist trotzdem immer mitten im Geschehen. Die Handlung war nicht sonderlich spannend, da vor allem die erste Hälfte nur aus Erinnerungen bestand, aber trotzdem sehr interessant und fesselnd. 
Besonders fand ich auch die Rolle der Stadt Istanbul. Istanbul war nicht nur ein Schauplatz, sondern irgendwie auch ein Ort ständiger Wandlung, ein handelndes Subjekt und doch wieder nur ein Ort. 
Ganz klar eine Empfehlung. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Self harm

bethnash's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Medical content, Murder, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Addiction, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Trafficking

leahrosiee's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Infertility, and Violence

linguisticali's review

reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

I liked the writing, but, as other reviewers have pointed out, this becomes a different book halfway through, which is odd - it felt like the main premise of the book (based on the blurb and title) should have been most of the story, and the rest could have been covered in an epilogue. The second part onwards was interesting at first, but ended up dragging. It was nice to see some joy and hopefulness in the midst of the relentless tragedy, but so much of it was only really clear after her death. 

It felt like the book was leaning into the idea of sex work as inherently tragic, and I was also uncomfortable with the way the trans character's physicality was constantly foregrounded (her size! her hands! her surgeries! her breasts!).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Trafficking, Transphobia, Miscarriage, and Self harm

Minor: Ableism

gkelly's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, and Trafficking

Moderate: Self harm and Transphobia