Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

25 reviews

eestellar's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I listened to the audiobook & read this book and I have never read anything quite like it before. It was trauma heavy and gross (lots of bodily fluids). The plot got lost in all the metaphors and poetic writing, I was confused a lot of the time, but even with all of the flaws I still wanted to continue the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence and Vomit

jess_18's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

was so weird but i thought it was great. the mother daughter relationships shown got to me. definitely not for everyone 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Gore, and Medical content

marioncromb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

A story of inheritance, cycles of violence, folk tales and animal magic. 
Earthy, visceral, soaked in piss, sweat and saliva

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexism, Racism, Rape, Vomit, War, and Cannibalism

readingpicnic's review

5.0

I’ve never read a book with so much pissing in it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Animal death, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Excrement, Sexual assault, War, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, and Violence

maksipad's review

challenging emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

I like weird books and this fits in that category for sure. The prose was absolutely beautiful and I really loved the story. However, it was also fairly slow and I could only read small chunks of the book before I had to put it back down for awhile. Also, as others have mentioned, there are manyyy bodily function references.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Abandonment, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Dementia, and Gun violence

Moderate: Gore, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jacq_s's review against another edition

challenging dark funny slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Gore

nixusiai's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

a beautifully written book on intergenerational trauma, and the way it cycles until someone makes an effort to break it! it also features a lot on what it's like to leave your home for the colonised countries, the beastification of people of colour, and how this effects all of the family well down the line. 

i absolutely adored the way k-ming chang wrote and formatted this. the juxtaposition of the almost flower prose versus the language used is just stunning!! loved the relationship between daughter and ben, too.

the final two chapters made it fall from a high 4☆ but i have a feeling that's mostly because it began to lean into the poetic & magical side and i didn't fully understand.

really recommend though! beautiful, especially for a debut!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Colonisation

hbrigham's review

challenging tense slow-paced

2.75

Myths mixed into the lives of three Taiwanese women

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

caleykapowski's review against another edition

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Excrement, and Violence

alecrigdon's review

challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse