Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld

77 reviews

thaliasoul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Death

ferre_smeets's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.0

Incredibly slow and dark, disgusted by almost everything every character did, but that just shows how good it's written

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Grief, Child abuse, Mental illness, Vomit, Bullying, Self harm, Animal death, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Cursing, Alcohol, Car accident, and Cancer

justgeorgie's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.5

this book is really disturbing! read most of it with a face like 0.0. really really odd, a horrid read really (content wise, not writing wise) and really sad! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, and Incest

jmbz38's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

1.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Excrement, Grief, Incest, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Emotional abuse

bozicina's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

The many ways in which religious upbringing can ruin a child's psyche. This was more disturbing than I imagined and I do not recommend this to anyone unless you are also interested in becoming a child psychiatrist. I do not even have the time and energy to add all the content trigger warnings that would apply here....

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

mokuren's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

beckyjc's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.75

What to say about this novel! I have found the past international Booker winners to be interesting reads so was keen to give this a try, but only had a vague understanding of the premise when I started it. Be warned: this book goes to some very dark and unsettling places.

The narrator is a 10 year old girl who lives on a farm in the Netherlands with her extremely religious family. In the early pages of the novel her eldest brother dies in an ice skating accident and this event sends the family members spiraling into grief in different ways, none of which involve honestly expressing how they feel with each other. This leads to some destructive, disturbing and downright bizarre behaviour on the part of the remaining children, who are effectively left to their own devices by their devastated, emotionally repressed parents. They each plot to escape the stifling and loveless environment of the farm - through violent and sexually abusive outlets, as well as literal distancing - and this culminates in an ending that shocked me.

I had reached a bit of a saturation point for shock by this stage, but still didn't really expect her to kill herself at the end. I'm not sure why because in retrospect, Jas clearly felt there was no way out and the second half of the novel is definitely an escalation of desperation, but perhaps my foolish hope would not let me come to that conclusion?!

 

The subject matter is of course very sad, but the unflinching writing style, brutal and sparse, and bleak imagery didn't really encourage my empathy - despite it being autobiographical. I felt like an alarmed observer watching with mounting unease (and downright disgust at points!) as the family comes apart at their greatest time of need.

The foot-and-mouth outbreak and the catastrophic impact this had on farming communities, which I remember well from my own adolescence, adds yet another layer of oppressive loss.

I do find the concept of disgust an interesting one to unpack - that we can be repulsed by our bodies and what they are capable of, that we inflict guilt and shame through religious bigotry on ourselves and others - and this book does a fine job of exploring that alongside a child's interpretation of death and mortality. This is a tale of deprivation in all its forms and the effect this has on our sense of security and belonging. It is vividly drawn but left me feeling cold and in need of a hug! Time for something a bit more upbeat next!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Excrement

Minor: Abandonment

calliope_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense 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

1.0

Whilst being incredibly well written this book is violently dark and borderline grotesque. Whilst trying to explore death and what it means to come of age whilst surrounded by a toxic and deeply complicated family, this book ultimately fails to provide any meaning or resolution. I strongly encourage exploring trigger warnings beforehand. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

jarmz's review against another edition

Too distressing,  too much child abuse.
This book needs a trigger warning 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

xingev's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Grief, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse