Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

92 reviews

laurenleigh's review

funny informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This tells the story of a neurodivergent boy solving a neighborhood mystery that quickly devolves into a pretty messy family drama. One one hand, I think this could increase empathy and understanding for autistic people and folks on the spectrum. There were so many times where Christopher felt scared, uncomfortable, and anxious, while adults in his life kept trying to push him past his limits. It was so frustrating, especially when you can see things through his first-person perspective. On the other hand, I couldn’t find any reporting that this author is neurodivergent, and I feel conflicted about that. I’m generally neurotypical, so my review should totally be taken with lots of salt grains!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse

scoads's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

A book with more than a few problems and an interesting yet problematic take on autistic stereotypes in young boys, but a very compelling and suspenseful story told from an interesting perspective, very close to my heart.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Ableism, Child abuse, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Murder

funyuns_the_movie's review

adventurous 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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

sarah_hutchins's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

camoo3032's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Excrement, Violence, Blood, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Dementia, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Cursing, Ableism, Cancer, Murder, Physical abuse, and Suicide

bethanharcourt's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I was not expecting a lot of this book. I thought it was a children's book. But although I found parts quite hard, and upsetting, it was really insightful, and not a perspective I regularly read from. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Minor: Child abuse

another_dahlia's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Ableism, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying and Infidelity

Minor: Vomit

lawbooks600's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

This might be a good book...

Update:

Representation: Character with autism, minor Asian character
Score: Six and a half points out of ten.

I wanted to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time but never got around till now. I had to pick it up when it was time--it was the next book in my TBR. I glanced at the blurb, making it seem intriguing. I headed in, thinking I would read a story about the murder of a dog. However, that is not what I got, and, as a side note, the narrative was okay and nothing too remarkable.

Spoilers ahead. I've warned you.

It starts with the first person I see, Christopher, stumbling upon a deceased dog and wanting to discover who killed it. The unique aspect of this fictional composition is that Christopher has autism. The prime-numbered chapters were an appreciated touch as they made The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time stand out, but the story's entirety isn't solely dedicated to solving the dog murder mystery. Only the first half is dedicated to that. The second half revolves around Christopher going to London after stumbling upon a deeper mystery. Christopher discovers her mother is alive and not deceased as his father said. Toward the last 200 pages, Christopher sets off alone to London, and he eventually finds his mother. The conclusion wasn't satisfying enough for me as it petered out rather than ending with a bang. I couldn't connect or relate to Christopher or any of the other characters in this piece of fiction, even though Christopher has autism. The authenticity isn't guaranteed either as it's unclear whether the author also has autism. 

Well. To summarise, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time promised to be an intriguing murder mystery, but it subverted my expectations when I read half of it, and it cannot be trusted as an accurate portrayal of neurodiversity. You'd be better off reading genuine neurodivergent novels like Please Don't Hug Me and A Kind of Spark.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood

Full trigger warnings: Death of a mother from a heart attack and another person in the past mentioned, child abuse, physical assault and injury, blood depiction

reddeddy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, Excrement, Abandonment, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Child abuse, Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Ableism

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Xenophobia, Murder, Confinement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Dementia, Self harm, and Police brutality

itshrewsbury's review against another edition

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Ableism and Child abuse