Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

66 reviews

bucknife's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

lucy_36's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, Grief, Murder, Homophobia, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

_rowan_'s review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Blood, Addiction, Violence, Alcohol, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Vomit, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, and Drug use

cstein's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Some racist humor/undertones that the 2022 reader should question. Tartt's description of the attack and its aftermath are moving and memorable, in contrast to later passages and conversations which feel rushed and underexplained. Interesting use of an unreliable narrator and a combination of several narrative styles. Generally entertaining.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Violence, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Vomit, Death, Gore, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, and Mental illness

Minor: Antisemitism, Classism, Medical content, and Trafficking

georgiataylor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Domestic abuse

rebeccaquinton's review

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Child abuse, Bullying, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Grief, Addiction, and Alcohol

e_reader's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was okay. Good, even. But it wasn’t great, and for a book to be THIS long, it needs to be great. I’m glad to have read it, but I wouldn’t read it again and wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone else. 

Some entire chapters could have stood to be shorter, or cut out entirely. I didn’t mind the part in Vegas, because it sets up the rest of the book. I just think the whole book should have been a lot shorter. 

The scene in Amsterdam was also a bit confusing—although possibly intentionally so? No doubt, Donna Tartt is a genius. Her descriptions are so incredibly beautiful, and she has the ability to craft such a complex plot with apparent ease. But this book still doesn’t top The Secret History. Maybe because the characters just weren’t as compelling. For example, the time skips were confusing to me because Theo’s narration style didn’t change, and he didn’t *feel* significantly older. I did find Boris interesting as a character though. 

Also, there was the incredible amount of time spent covering Theo’s increasingly concerning drug problems. As one reviewer put it, “is there anything more boring than reading about someone else’s drug habit?” It was important for the plot, I’ll give you that. But man do we spend a lot of time just reading Theo’s narration of the many drugs he tries, starting at age 12? 13?

Donna Tartt’s writing style uses first person, which I particularly enjoy, but can be off putting if you aren’t a fan of that. Overall, maybe worth the read if you are a big fan of Donna Tartt. Otherwise, save yourself the time and read something else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

viccocha's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Sexism, Murder, Cursing, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

abbeyhuffine94's review

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

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

5.0

Truly a masterpiece. Super long but totally worth it. Also I loved Boris, what an interesting guy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Violence

libraryofpeculiar's review

challenging reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I don't really get the hype around this book. I think I would've DNFed this if it weren't for the audiobook and 2x speed.

The writing wasn't bad, but the story kept on dragging on and on and on. The pace was painfully slow. I wasn't really interested in things that were going on, and the fact I've seen the movie before reading didn't contribute to this since I already knew what was going to happen.

I also found Theo to be incredibly stupid, and his several existential crisis had me soooo annoyed. Dunno, this book didn't really give me any pleasure whatsoever... I can't say that it was a bad book, but simply nothing in it happened to be my cup of tea. The movie was better because it cut out all the boring and unnecessary parts, which was like a good portion of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders