Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Bruised

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Bruised by Tanya Boteju

37 reviews

fieldfarmer's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My main issue with Bruised is that I felt like I was promised sad roller derby gals, and I did not receive enough of the roller derby itself because honestly my favorite part of sports books is the sport. However, I loved Daya's development so much. Grieving your parents is such a difficult task, especially when you're as young as she is, and I loved seeing her be able to open up both to her family and her new and old friends. Boteju's portrayal of grief was so real and raw that it took me longer to go through this book than I normally would've. I thought the love interest was kind of giving off "manic pixie dream girl who has a spine" vibes, but I still loved her and their relationship. Also, I'm a sucker for anything with queer grandmas.

Content Warnings

mittymyers's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kfreads's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

Content Warnings

ldushay's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful 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

Made me cry, 5 stars, would sob while finishing at midnight again.

Content Warnings

courtnoodles's review against another edition

2.0

emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Maybe I should have just watched Whip It instead

2022 Asian Readathon:
- A book written by an Asian author
- A book featuring an Asian character who is a woman and/or older
- A book by an Asian author that has a universe you would want to experience, or a universe that is totally different from yours

Content Warnings

maggie_atwood's review against another edition

3.0

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: Yes

Content Warnings

reading_rainbows's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Great main character development, compelling inner monologue. I loved how attraction to same gender was never a concern. Content warning: Self-harm by bruising main topic from the start.

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective 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

Bruised is a YA novel that follows Daya’s journey and grief following the sudden death of her parents. Unsurprisingly it is sometimes an uncomfortable emotional read, especially when Daya resorts to self-harm as a way to manage her feelings.

I loved the diversity in this book. Among the characters there is a range of ethnicities, genders, sexualities, abilities and ages. There are some unique quirky individuals and I love the warm, caring relationships that exist or develop among them. I thought the story was well paced and structured. The backstory that was interspersed provided some key details crucial to understanding Daya. I’ve long harboured a fascination with roller derby but have absolutely no interest in ever participating. I loved that this story let me learn more - from the safety of the page! Finally, I loved Daya’s story arc, the way she came to learn that one way to be strong is to be soft rather than hard.

Content Warnings