Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

De avond is ongemak by Lucas Rijneveld

83 reviews

xoopa's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

2.5

This book talks about shared grief and personal and religious guilt from the point of a view of a pre teen girl. It’s a beautifully written book and quite poignant at times. But all of this is overwhelmingly drowned out by the amount of graphic details of animal and sexual cruelty and references. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Incest, Self harm, Excrement, and Grief

abookishgoth's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Grief, and Suicide attempt

mel_j's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Confinement

Minor: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

barelyalex's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, and Antisemitism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

fscherlie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Rape

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

crusoe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Positives. Marieke Lucas Rijneveld is a master when it comes to the Dutch language. The writing style was wonderfully poetic and each new event layered onto each other to reveal new and hidden meanings. Example spoiler.

(Like the last plague, 'Darkness', leading Jas to the basement where she crawls into the freezer to be close to Mathias, which is also the day on which she is supposed to 'go to the other side' of the lake with Hanna.)

The book is also supremely uncomfortable; the things Jas does make sense through her reasoning and her innocent view of things which helps her cope with the death of her brother and the subsequent abuse she suffers. All in all, this is a beautiful book, not for the faint of heart, about the different ways in which grief can spiral and corrupt.

Negatives. This book is as Dutch as can be in its subject matter. The events described are unapologetically horrible and I do not find that appealing. While I could, to an extent, put myself in the shoes of this traumatized, reformist, farmer's family in the early 2000's, I greatly disliked the taboo subjects covered, the animal cruelty, the sexual and physical abuse, etc. You really need to have the stomach for it. 

Quote. "'Weet je," zeg ik terwijl ik mijn neus in haar haren duw die naar Zwitsal ruiken. "Ik wil wel groter worden maar niet dat mijn armen mee groeien. Nu pas jij er precise in.' Hannah is even stil en zegt dan: 'Als ze te groot worden, sla ik ze net als mijn wintersjaal gewoon twee keer om mij heen." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Excrement, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Antisemitism and Abortion

rhysied's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, and Grief

jully_bean's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Sexual content, and Suicide

unfortunatecircus's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Child abuse and Incest

Minor: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, and Excrement

mariekeroos's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Religious bigotry