Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

95 reviews

finleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racism

paint_gremlin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

mackinley's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Addiction, and Child abuse

noahh's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Drug use

Moderate: Murder and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

tovahs's review

dark funny slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Gun violence, Bullying, Blood, Vomit, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Addiction, Injury/injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

abbeycochran's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

rrio's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Addiction, and Child abuse

passionfriuts's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

kristinisntokay's review

emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

kingcrookback's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

Theo's story is permeated with a sense of displacement, of being out of place--grief, the passage of time, antiques, old art, physical distance, memory, estrangement, the gap between imagination/ideal and reality. For the most part, I enjoyed Tartt's writing style, especially how she captures emotions and headspaces that are typically very fleeting, ephemeral. This book is also very Dickensian, especially in its exploration of class, crime, and abuse.

However, as nice as the language was at times, it's slow-paced enough that I had to actively work (as in make sure I read a certain number of pages per day) so that my progress didn't peter out and eventually result in a DNF. The last arc of Theo's story is also rather incongruous with the rest of it, which threw me a bit. Tartt also seems to have a problem with leaving her female characters underdeveloped, which I suppose could be chalked up to the way Theo engages with women as a result of his grief, but it's still a bit annoying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

Minor: Racism and Cursing