Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee

10 reviews

hannah2896's review against another edition

Not something I'd usually read but picked up as longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.  The first chapter gave me false confidence in loving this book and didn't set me up well for the absolute brutality of the following chapters. Disturbing and not a particuarly enjoyable read - I wish I read reviews before picking up as I would have avoided. The chapters also seem quite disjointed which left me confused in parts. Dnf at page 77.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, War, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Alcohol, Confinement, Drug use, and Violence

beckyjzw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Child abuse, Infertility, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Slavery, and War

insomniacsun's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

Questo è un libro che ho preso d'impulso dalla lista dei nuovi arrivi in biblioteca, accecata dall'obiettivo di essere più spontanea nella scelta delle mie letture. Errore fatale.
Addio spontaneità, le mie analisi di mercato continueranno a regnare sorvane. 

Purtroppo, come per tanti vedo, titolo e premessa accattivanti mi hanno fatto pensare ad un libro diverso da quello che mi sono ritrovata a leggere: più che romanzo la definirei una antologia, idea confermata dal fatto che alcuni dei capitoli sono stati pubblicati dall'autrice come racconti separati. Non c'è stato un lavoro decente nell'unire le varie storie e questo si nota particolarmente negli ultimi capitoli che ho faticato molto a finire.

Il problema più grosso che ho avuto sta nella freddezza con cui l'autrice narra di situazioni estremamente intense e cruente che occupano gran parte dell'opera.  Come per ogni libro che non riesco a leggere in lingua originale, non so mai se attribuirlo alla traduzione o se sia un problema di fondo.
Non ha aiutato l'ambizione dell'autrice nel creare una unreliable narrator senza avere la capacità di creare la tensione richiesta. Inoltre, l'alone di mistero che cerca di creare in alcuni capitoli, narrandoli ogni volta da un punto di vista diverso, non funziona quanto sperato, per il semplice fatto che la protagonista, intorno a cui gira tutto, risulta molto statica nonostante attraversi millemila peripezie. 
Forse un finale curato che legava tutte le parti discordanti disperse tra i capitoli poteva rendere l'opera almeno sufficiente, invece il tutto viene concluso con un epilogo molto anticlimatico che rende gran parte dell'opera al quanto inutile. 

Fatto sta che sono rimasta delusa dalla realizzazione che, pur leggendo di questo personaggio subire così tante violenze, mi sentivo emotivamente coinvolta tanto quanto lo sia leggendo la lista della spesa, il che è inaccettabile. 

In conclusione, è l'ennesimo libro che cerca di fare tutto senza concludere niente, lasciandosi dietro solo una scia di grande potenziale sprecato e trauma porn inconcludente. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Trafficking, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Confinement, Death, Body horror, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

hedgehogreads01's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A well done story made of separated chapters (lives). First five used to be separate short stories, but they still worked for me as a part of the novel. 
The second half (7th life especially) dragged slightly, but was still engaging enough.
It has several
POVs, and might be an issue for some people. I myself prefer books with 1-2 POVs, no more.
Still, liked it a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Slavery, Medical trauma, War, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Cancer and Vomit

emmajanereads's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Dementia

Minor: Child death and Child abuse

okierika's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring tense 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

5.0

Immediately when I started reading this book, I was so excited at the thought of going back and re-reading it. The way the author flawlessly introduces characters and has you empathize with them is incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Trafficking, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Cancer, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Colonisation

happyknitter2020's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Read as listed on the Women's Prize 2024.

An absolutely amazing story. Read over 2 days & let my mind follow the complex chapters of her life. Learned about women's experiences during the 2 wars & brings to life the values of the Women's Prize.

I think this would be my winner & will be on my Top 10 books for 2024.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Genocide, Infertility, Murder, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Racism, and War

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, War, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racism, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

minxtte's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Trafficking, Rape, Death, Miscarriage, Medical content, Sexual assault, Infertility, Blood, Torture, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Child abuse

ellenwelsh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Torture, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, War, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Murder, and Confinement

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Child death, Abortion, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Excrement, and Drug use