Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld

19 reviews

astridrv's review against another edition

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Reading this book felt like watching Hard to be a god. Can't recommend it but don't regret it. And the author sure is a poet. All of the content warnings..

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barelyalex's review against another edition

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dark 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

Haunting. I think about this book often, there were parts that cut through me. Unabashedly real and important. 

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honeycow's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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


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emzilia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

This is an incredibly dark and disturbing novel, but the graphic content is juxtaposed by the poetic and beautiful writing from the perspective of a traumatised, hurting, child. It captures the way we used to think as children and would make logic connections to the things around us. For Jas, however, her sense of the world is informed by tragedy and disfunction. 

This is a beautiful novel because it is written beautifully, but the story is anything but. 

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bomenvernietiger's review against another edition

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challenging 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? It's complicated

4.5

Disgusting. <3

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l4r4777's review against another edition

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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

4.5

A gut-wrenching story about a family consumed by grief told by a deeply traumatised girl. Horrific and disgusting and just a lot. The writing is really good, some lines in particular really stuck with me. Far too many descriptions of (TW)
incest and sexual activity regarding minors
but other than that this book is an intriguing exploration into grief and a family falling apart.

Don’t pick this up if you’re easily squeamish and uncomfortable with any of the content warnings associated with this book.

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janethevirgin46's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-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 book was weird. Wildly uncomfortable if not absolutely disgusting. The themes made me nauseous and certain scenes made me put the book down for a bit. Besides the content of the book, I felt some wording was off. It might have been the translation I got but you could tell it was their first novel. It had too many metaphors and similes, it got to feel repetitive. It’s an ok book. 

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justsayfit's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is such a well written but highly traumatic book. It deals with family death, depression, eating disorders, abuse, religion and suicide. It is impossible to say that it is a joy to read. In the beginning, it is almost charming to read the ideas of a young girl and her outlook on the world even while she is trying to deal with the death of her brother which she thinks that she is responsible for. The whole family spirals into depression and she tries so hard to make her sense of it. Because her mother in now anorectic and probably a closet alcoholic who drinks in the Celler, the child somehow thinks that the mother is hiding Jews in the cellar and is giving them the food that she herself is not eating. There numbers of such strange thoughts. The child longs so much for consolation and warmth, that she would do just about anything to get any, but her parents are too distracted with their own sorrow and are a bit too “Protestant” to give warmth. Only work gives solace. So many things occur that made me physically and viscerally ill. In the end, I just wanted it all to be over with and, I guess, that was the goal. The reader has no choice but to totally empathise with the child and agree to the only solution that she could devise. It does not end well. 

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badmom's review

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dark emotional sad tense 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

3.25

A story of extreme grief told through the eyes of a young, confused, and increasingly unstable person. Some instances of lovely description but on the whole a disconcerting and ultimately distressing examination of a family that cannot put itself back together after a series of tragedies. 

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judythedreamer's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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

1.0


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