Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Island Child by Molly Aitken

6 reviews

mamesjegan's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Child abuse

rosecott's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This was desperately sad and heartbreaking at points. 
I did keep hoping something would get happier but any happiness was short lived which made it quite a hard read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, and Abortion

Moderate: Homophobia, Child abuse, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, and Death

hollyko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Misogyny

rieviolet's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I saw this book recommended somewhere and went into it knowing very little, aside from the setting on an island and a storyline centered around women. All in all, I found it a quick and gripping enough read but I was not blown away.
 
I kept reading mostly because I wanted to find out how the events had unfolded to land us in the situation described at the beginning of the book but I cannot say that the story particularly impressed me. I found it difficult to connect with the various characters (both main and secondary) and sometimes I felt that the grief and heaviness of the story were a bit heavyly-handed and melodramatic. 

In general, I liked the writing style, especially when it came to establishing the setting. I think that the descriptions are a really strong point of the book and the author did a good job evoking the atmosphere of the different places. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

l_kistemaker's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

1.0

 
I did not feel comfortable with the message being: when you get fucked up in your childhood, you will never be able to cope with it. 
Perhaps that is a realistic way of seeing it. I just refuse to believe that if you want to change so badly, you couldn’t. Also, why didn’t the people around her (mainly Pat and Enda) try harder to help her. To force her to change. Like “island trauma rehab”. 
Maybe I was just a bit overwhelmed because it wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, and Xenophobia

hannalilja's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is absolutely heart wrenching. The relationships are complex and it reflects the difficulties of parenthood. I loved how the parallel stories of the young Oona and the adult Oona unraveled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Child abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Bullying

Minor: Homophobia