Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld

126 reviews

noodletime's review against another edition

Honestly this book depressed me too much. The darkness was just unrelenting. DNF @ 30% for self care reasons 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

paperknotbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

I think this will throw off my reader friend who’ve all rated this book 1-3/5 ⭐️s from the disturbing content. Yes, there is a lot of “ick,”  perversion, and animal cruelty, but I was charmed by Rijneveld’s writing and submerged in the story.  I loved the narrative voice: obviously young and naive, but with literary aptitude for quiet details. Probably will bumpy this up to a 5-⭐️ if it truest borrows itself into my memory.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Grief, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Incest, Sexual assault, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Gore, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Torture, and Self harm

chloesnotscared's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child death and Death

Minor: Vomit and Excrement

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

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Abortion and Antisemitism

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: Excrement, Child abuse, Torture, Incest, Suicide, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, 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 death, Suicide, Sexual content, Child abuse, Incest, Child death, and Animal cruelty

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: Incest and Child abuse

Minor: Pedophilia, Excrement, and Eating disorder

w0rldofab00kw0rm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• 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 death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Suicide

scarfoot's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Animal death, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death

imkedogger's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

2.5

 

Ik weet gewoon niet helemaal wat er in dit boek gebeurde. Het is natuurlijk ontzettend sneu, haar hele familie valt uit elkaar na de dood van haar broer Matthies. Dit verklaart echter niet waarom er zo een rare fascinatie is met seks, vooral tussen de familieleden. Het is niet normaal dat je broer zijn vinger in je kont doet, het is niet normaal om te kijken terwijl je zusje masturbeert. Ik begrijp gewoon niet helemaal wat het punt hiervan was. Uiteindelijk gaat ze op het einde dood en is er totaal geen uitleg over hoe en wat. Ik snap dat iedereen op zijn eigen manier met zijn trauma omgaat, maar dit is zo willekeurig en ik vond het om eerlijk te zijn best wel heel erg raar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Incest, Sexual violence, and Child death