Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

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

22 reviews

lillelow's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Read this when I was younger and for some reason something about it stuck in my head, so I decided to read it again as an adult. Apparently I’d forgotten most of the plot because I didn’t remember the major plot twist, but other than that, the book didn’t stand out to me as much this time around.

If you have no experience with autism and would like an insight into what that might look like (which I think everyone should) this will probably be a very eye-opening book and I’d absolutely recommend it. But if you’re already familiar with autism, I guess it doesn’t make that much of an impact - hence why I don’t find it as mind-blowing to read now as when I was younger and probably didn’t know as much. The story in itself is actually quite tragic and other than the plot twist, it’s all rather predictable - so the score ends up somewhere in the middle for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Vomit, Ableism, Confinement, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Cursing, Violence, and Toxic relationship

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

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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

lasivaranasi's review

emotional lighthearted medium-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? Yes

3.25

Hauptcharakter: sehr süß und schön, dass die Thematik um Christopher in einem Buch aufgegriffen und so lebensnah dargestellt wurde
Geschichte in sich: alle anderen Charaktere konnte ich zwar in ihren Handlungen nachvollziehen, sie haben mich aber sauer gemacht und ich konnte sie schlicht weg nicht leiden 
Und alles in allem: 
fand ich hatte das Buch leider seine Längen weshalb ich lange gebraucht hab, um durch das Buch zu kommen. 
Da die Idee hinter dem Buch jedoch sehr gelungen ist, kann und möchte ich es nicht schlecht bewerten :) 

Das Buch ist super für alle Menschen, ich denke aber besonders für jüngere - alle, die etwas leichtverständliches lesen wollen und gleichzeitig sich  mit dem Thema Autismus (zum ersten Mal) befassen und einen Einblick in die Gedanken eines Betroffenen bekommen können. Sie bekommen dafür ein Buch, in dem sie mit dem Hauptcharakter mitfühlen und die schönen aber auch nervenaufreibenden Seiten dieser psychischen Störung kennenlernen dürfen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Mental illness, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Drug abuse and Panic attacks/disorders

Die Warnungen, die ich angegeben habe sind alle im Buch enthalten, jedoch durch den Schreibstil sehr milde gehalten, weshalb ich die meisten Dinge gut aushalten konnte, auch wenn ich ein persönliches Thema mit ihnen hatte. Dies Variiert natürlich danach, wie starke Triggerpunkte diese Themen für dich sind! Das Thema vor dem ich am meisten warnen würde sind:

Herzerkrankungen, Tod/Mord, Familienstreitigkeiten und Gewalt (an Kindern)

trintrin's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

omg I’m actually teary after finishing this book. It’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Christopher was such a delight to follow, I loved reading all his little theories and observations, especially in the first half. But the second half, oh man

I never expected this to get so sad. That scene of him reading all those letters from his mother broke my heart. And the entire London tube scenes shittttt I can’t fully formulate an opinion on his parents but I hope their family finds a way to heal and cope. And that Christopher truly fulfils his dreams and lives happily ever after.

The only thing that bothered me a little is that this stopped being a murder mystery pretty early on, but that’s got to do with the way this book is marketed ig 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cursing, Vomit, Blood, and Excrement

lana_reads98's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Infidelity, Alcohol, Animal death, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death of parent, Police brutality, and Physical abuse

jcinf's review against another edition

funny hopeful fast-paced

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

3.25

Being autistic myself, I searched Reddit forums for books with autistic main characters. That’s where this book came recommended.

I’m glad I read it because it touched me to read about a character so similar to me. The overstimulation, hyperfixations, looking for order in a chaotic world, safe foods, significant stress when plans change (or when there is no plan). So much of Christopher was so similar to me. It was a gift to see myself represented.

That said, it wasn’t the best representation of an autistic boy. There were times it felt like it was just the author’s uneducated idea of what autism was. 

In terms of pace, the first 2/3 was pretty fast pace, and last 1/3 was a little slower. That said, I did feel like the ending was quite abrupt. I thought I had two more pages left, but it was just the appendix. So once I read the ending, it seemed too quick. I don’t mind the ending itself — as in the resolution. But I do think the resolution could’ve used 4-8 more pages perhaps. 

If you’re looking for a fast read, especially one with a neurodivergent main character, I’d recommend this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Animal death

chrisljm's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

not a mystery, just mostly about how shitty christopher’s parents are 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Infidelity, Excrement, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Ableism, Death, Blood, and Cursing

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment

sarahkinney's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

While in 2003, the book was praised for autistic representation - the author's claim that he did not research the topic while writing the book is apparent while reading. Despite this, the book is an easy read, with a unique writing style and the twist is presented excellently. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, and Infidelity

joygarcialim's review

adventurous dark funny informative tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

te_ss_i's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective sad fast-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

2012, 5⭐
2023, 3⭐

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship