Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

16 reviews

ratmuva's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-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

4.25

I loved this book so much more than I originally thought. It took me a bit to get used to the way it’s written in Scots/English but it added more to the book. Some parts were super out of left field and hard to read, but all in all an interesting story. It was hard to keep up with the characters, but once you get them in order you see how all their lives intersect. Another book I would potentially read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Excrement, Addiction, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Body horror

Minor: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Racism, Self harm, and Domestic abuse

alice_appleby's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Grief, Mental illness, Child death, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Abortion, Gore, Suicide, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Vomit, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Violence, Rape, and Sexual violence

dannymonty's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

4.25

The movie which this book is based on is probably my favorite of all time. I like it better than the book, but Irvine Welsh's novel has a style and charm that can't be ignored. This is a challenging read. Without the glossary, I would have drowned in the Scottish dialect completely. Once you get used to it, the language becomes part of the fun. The novel switches perspectives a lot, often without warning. What is impressive about the heavy use of dialect is that, because all the characters speak differently, you can tell who is talking without their name being mentioned in the text. Overall, this book is a substantial collection of shocking, gritty moments that make for a unique and memorable reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Child death, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism and Chronic illness

Minor: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

vampiricfunghi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Drug use, Excrement, Child death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Hate crime

cowboyvelma's review against another edition

dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Drug use, and Domestic abuse

rubster's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.75

once again book way better than the movie, in both good and bad ways. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

my_a's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

It felt hyper-realistic, like people were filling me in on their lives. The style sucks you in. 

But I didn't get a lot of it. Seemed like a series of short stories rather than a novel. You get used to the dialect quickly but I found it difficult following who was narrating & who was being spoken about - so I'd know what was happening but not who it was between. Especially was confused by the switching people characters names and nicknames - but didnt want to google them and ruin any plot! Made it really hard to track characters and plot. Lots of moments seemed undeveloped and just left without follow up - particularly "The First Shag in Ages" chapter. Somes scenes and dialogue I found really disturbing and uncomfortable.

I think I need to watch the film and re-read it more intentionally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Ableism, Trafficking, and Fatphobia

ailurolily's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Child death, and Cursing

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Terminal illness, Death, and Excrement

Minor: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, and Rape

quinnviv's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-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

5.0

Was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I went into it knowing that it could be a difficult read due to the dialect however that was my main draw to the book for research purposes. What I initially set off on when starting the book changed entirely once I found myself in the world and with the characters, who I didn't necessarily like but seemed to care for in some way.

The way Welsh differentiates the characters point of views through the change in writing style and accent was marvellous and I loved the working class perspective on big topics. I would've loved to see more of Stevie's and Nina's character as they presented an interesting outsiders look into the depravity of the scene that Renton has found himself in. My only gripe with the book was that at times I found myself disappointed in the disappearance of story threads but the disjointed structure of the book seemed to reflect the headspace of its characters which I appreciated.

This structure of vignettes coming from multiple peoples perspectives rather than a fully cohesive story was reminiscent of sitting around a table with old friends and telling the highlights/lowlights of the past year. It treated the reader as smart, engaging with topics of systematic injustice for the working class in Britain with an educated but genuine voice of the lower class, as well as forcing you to infer gaps within the story.  The moments where the perspective was from a woman showed an appreciation for their resilience when not only are they systematically oppressed but also poorly treated by the misogynistic men in the story. 

Practically, reading this book allowed me to process the writing much easier as well as improved my Scottish accent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Death, Child abuse, Body horror, Sexism, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Drug abuse, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism

kayleyb's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship