Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

12 reviews

jainabee's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful fast-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

The story is a very sweet and fun teen romance romp, even as it weaves in very serious and challenging themes and topics. Nuanced characters emerge through confronting their own presumptions about each other and about themselves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Vomit, Racism, Addiction, and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcohol, Classism, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Minor: Kidnapping, Cursing, Abandonment, Biphobia, and Cultural appropriation

Remarkably realistic and accurate portrayal of rape, dissociation, gaslighting, addiction, and moving through various stages of trauma. The challenging material is handled with great care and shows healthy, functional family and community responses to trauma.

_nem_'s review

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Rep: Gay MLM Main characters

This book went through a lot (definitely check the trigger warnings before you read it). It has an amazing found family feeling and the two main characters feeling safe to be their true self and reveal hobbies that they have without thinking they will be judged. It's about hopes and dreams and ambitions and discovering that you can be good at something or enjoy something if you just give it a go. I loved this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Cultural appropriation

a_l_reads's review

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Racism, and Chronic illness

Minor: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, and Homophobia

_yeenaw's review against another edition

emotional funny sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Toxic friendship

frantic_vampire's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.5

This book was not what I expected it to be. I thought I was getting one thing and ended up with something completely different. And that’s the thing I liked about it the most. It just grabbed me by the hand and wouldn’t let me go until the very end.

I felt so much for both Max and Jordan. For different reasons, but damn did this book go after my feelings every chance it got. I really liked that this dealt with a whole host of different issues, from mental illness and shitty parents to the aftermath of rape and consent. And none of it felt like it was forced or out of place in this story. Sure, there were some things that could have been handled a little better, but I felt like this book did a really great job getting its point across.

Over all this was a really great read and I would highly recommend it! This is getting a four and a half stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Rape, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

riella_reads's review against another edition

emotional funny 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? It's complicated

3.5

 This was a lot more emotional and hard hitting than I originally expected. This hit hard on "light" homophobia and racism, where friends and family are making jokes about gay sex and how the main character isn't brown even though he's Mexican. Some parts were actually pretty hard to listen to, and there were lots of trigger warnings 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting

aimhkaitlin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

The author heavily relied on the third act save that fixed a lot of the plot issues and problematic behaviors and thought patterns that bothered me consistently throughout the book. I think the first-person narrative allowed for a lot of the problematic elements to go unquestioned for far too long and lacked a level of condemnation that I believe should be the responsibility of an accountable YA writer. (Negative thoughts patterns not being questioned, gaslighting, etc.) Covers a lot of heavy and sensitive topics, that I could see being impactful to the right reader but to be effective this book needs to be finished in its entirety before the benefits can be reaped. This worries me for any vulnerable reader who does not finish it and instead is left with the lack of resolution that occurs in the final chapters and the critical accountability for multiple characters and actions. An okay read but left me with concerns. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual violence

cranereader's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Addiction, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Mental illness

Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia

justreaditem's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-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

5.0

This book took me completely by surprise. 

Not only does it show an honest story between two young gay boys, it shows the relationship between mother and son, father and son, and friendships. It shows how men can just as easily be sexually assaulted and raped as women; and and that addiction comes in many forms. If I didn't know any addicts, I wouldn't have been able to sympathise with Jordan's mum. For addicts to truly get the help they need, they have to want it because nothing is more important than their fix, not even their kids. I adored that Max was Hispanic/Latino, as it showed brought another layer of male posturing and homophobia, not only within sports but also within other cultures. 

Jordan and Max had a really cute relationship, the way they argued and grew as a couple, with all their own issues before realising that a problem shared is a problem halved, and eventually knew that they could rely on each other no matter what. 

I can't wait for this author's next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Addiction

Moderate: Racial slurs and Toxic relationship

rosage's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

1.0

my high school self would have loved this book. however it’s is very much trauma bonding and their whole relationship is built bc of their two personal traumas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction and Adult/minor relationship