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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'
Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry
13 reviews
priscillarobock's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Death, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Animal death
unicornofblue's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Violence, Confinement, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Rape
bcsylve's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
strawbeb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Christina Henry is an addictive writer. Whether I was in love with what I was reading, or if I felt it was lacking, regardless I always turned the page. And I ended up finishing the entire book in two days (would've been one, but it arrived in the mail late in the evening.)
On "one hand", Lost Boy accomplishes exactly what it promises. It's a dark twisted version of the original tale. Heroes are the villains, and villains are the heroes. There is A LOT of death, blood, violence, psychological abuse, and then some. And none of it feels gratuitous. There's always a narrative purpose for the dark deeds that are done. Christina Henry writes "darkness" excellently.
Alongside this, the plot is intense and keeps you engaged.
On the "other hook", there were flaws I noticed. For one, while Jamie is an endearing character that you can't help but root for, at times he felt a bit like a Gary Stu. Perfect and amazing at everything, with everyone looking up to him all the time, and complimenting him at practically every turn.
The pacing also felt disjointed at times. Peter wastes nearly five (5) ENTIRE pages going on about a story about a crocodile. I did understand the significance of the tale, but I truly doubt it needed that many pages and details to get across. This was the worst time the pacing felt terribly slow.
But towards the later half of the story, a vital character suddenly switches sides. It's incredibly abrupt and feels like it comes out of nowhere. And then, barely even 3 pages later, the character returns back to their original side again. It felt like this might've been a scene Henry brainstormed early into production, then got further into writing only to realize she couldn't fit it in, but out of sheer determination, crammed the scene into the plot anyways.
All in all, the book definitely has flaws and is far from perfect. But what it does well, it does really well and it will keep you on the edge of your seat regardless of what chapter you're on. Flaws aside, I do wish Christina Henry would return to this world and these characters again. For a sequel sounds like it would be a wonderfully grand adventure.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Stalking, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Sexual violence, Cursing, Alcoholism, Misogyny, War, and Terminal illness
Warning to readers that have arachnophobia.aely's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Stalking, War, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, and Vomit
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Alcohol, Cursing, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
mercydesy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The beginning started of really slow and reading through the first half of the book was a bit of a pain, because nothing important really happend and the book didn't really get to the point. Many scenes were way too long and could be shortend a bit.
I loved Jamies development! His anger and annoyance for Peter were pretty obvious since the beginning.
The book was brutally written and at some points it was repulsive and disgusting to read if you keep in mind that 8-12 year old boys did those gruesome things like slaughtering others without a bit of mercy. This writing made the book really thrilling and fascinating for me. It was very gripping at the second half of the book because of the fast pace and hoping that your favorite side characters do not brutally die like most of the others.
The fast pace at the end made it also very enjoyable to read and even though we know the ending of the book since the beginning, there are many small plottwists and turns that keep you occupied.
All in all I would recommend this book and encourage to keep reading even if the first half is a bit slow, it is worth it.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, and Child death
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, and Kidnapping
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Animal cruelty
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i first read lost boy around 2 years ago, give or take a few months. and i was in love. baffled. shocked. totally immersed and utterly impressed by all of henry's brutal, brilliant and exciting ideas.
[this was the book that sparked my passion for re-tellings (of peter pan and others)!]
jamie and peter's relationship is so frighteningly interesting and nuanced; the manipulation, the jealousy, the betrayal, the absolute madness - i loved it all.
the book is very character-driven, and with that i mean most of the book is the characters getting slaughtered or slaughtering each other. the plot beyond that was scarce, but that's okay because the pages were filled with other things, namely clever ideas, fantastic revelations and intrigues (but sometimes, sadly, also kinda lengthy scenes).
there's only one thing i didn't like, neither back then nor now, and it's the whole thing surrounding sal.
i hated how the revelation that she's a girl seemed to change everything, from the boys' thinking to their language to even the narration (suddenly noting her physique and random blushing and so forth). and i hated how jamie came to the very quick realisation that he loved her right there on the battle ground. it was strange.
her whole arc didn't fit into the story and she brought a certain aspect to the book that i didn't enjoy. perhaps it was the romance that was obviously inevitable (because she's the only girl and jamie the main boy, which is just so stupid). perhaps it was the possibility of a happy ending. i don't know. the book seemed to lose its tone and charm as soon as jamie fell for her and even became a little unenjoyable from this revelation on until her inconsequential death. it got better after that, though.
but the ending was great. like really. it was impactful and so so SO thrilling.
still one of my favorite christina henry books, even after nearly 2 years.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Body horror, Child abuse, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Vomit and Gun violence
cozywithraven's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Physical abuse, Stalking, Torture, Child abuse, and Murder
Minor: Vomit and Kidnapping
Narcissismkathigusi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and Physical abuse
isthisakissingbook_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I’m a big Peter Pan retelling fan, and this one was tremendous. I’m a bit disappointed in myself that I didn’t realise the twist much sooner, but it was honestly phenomenal. I promise it’s miles away from what you’re expecting this book to be.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment