Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

129 reviews

moonpeach's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Vomit, Gun violence, Grief, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

elibrownn's review

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Cursing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Grief, Bullying, Child abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

woweewhoa's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

While this book is very well written and a compelling character study, I unfortunately don't think I liked reading this book very much. It's a long and miserable read about Theodore Decker, our protagonist, ruining his life and getting his life ruined by others. It's a tragedy from the get go, and while its not all his fault, it's still hard to read at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

k_vira's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction

Minor: Death and Death of parent

fatfrog's review

Too triggering

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

floorse's review

dark mysterious sad 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

3.5

A solid read, pretty similar in tone and fashion to Tartts other work. I find her characters quite difficult to sympathize with (not least because of the social echelon they tend to occupy, but also because of the strange ignorance of non-upper-class life that seems to pervade all of her works). The latter third of the book dragged on twice as long as I'd have liked. There's also something painfully annoying about a character moralizing for a dozen pages on issues that should be evident to anyone who isn't a oxy-snorting nihilist. Prose was excellent, though, and I really did enjoy it up until about page 600.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

khick5599's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Drug abuse

lyndis8377's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Gun violence, Drug use, Death of parent, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Hate crime, Vomit, Child abuse, and Self harm

dizzzybrook'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

This book was such a chore to get through. I generally favor long books and have no issues with a slow burn, but something about The Goldfinch just failed to ever emotionally draw me in. The story was much more enjoyable for me than that of The Secret History but I'm still just not sold that Tartt's books are for me. I really loved the first 1/4th of the book but after that, I lost motivation and eventually had to switch over to the audiobook to get through the rest. I don't think this is a bad book by any means but it was a relief once it was over, and I'm not sure that's a compliment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Abandonment, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, and Vomit

maddie_1999's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Gore, Abandonment, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Vomit, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Racism, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Stalking, Violence, and Fatphobia