Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride

31 reviews

harleyburch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

How would they ever understand my life is more than cider? Complex than that. Fuller deeper richer. Irritation that. Something. Not as good as me in the back of my head.

When I read that this was an experimental novel, I didn't expect it to be quite so jarring. At first, I saw this as a negative; I felt as if the style was drawing me away from the characters rather than into their lives. It wasn't until the end of the novel that the grammar-less stream-of-consciousness style started to speak to me. It was this disjointed use of the language that put me at such unease. Strikingly, this book is bleak - very bleak. Our nameless narrator is subjected to terrible events that become relentless as she slowly but surely tugs us into her head. I had no idea how a book written like this without much plot could end but the ending - while still very bleak - was impressive and memorable. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone (definitely pay attention to the content warnings) but it was a challenged yet insightful experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

frank_patrol's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

it took me 2 months to read this book, i had a reading slump half way through it, but it’s also quite difficult to read, not impossible and like you get the main point of each part but it may take a while to actually realise what’s going on 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Religious bigotry

chiara_dose's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

casbee's review against another edition

this book is impossible to read with broken grammar, dreadful punctuation, and unclear wording and structure (and not in an edgy cute way). 
the plot is uninteresting, the characters are insufferable, the content is disgusting, and the lack of quotation marks makes it all the worse. 
personally i don't think you can throw trauma and sex and no quotation marks together and call it a masterpiece. 
i cant remember anything from the story and nothing about the book was good. 
dreadful experience; never again; no. i wouldnt recommend this book to my worst enemy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Sexual content, Violence, and Medical trauma

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, and Alcohol

dashes101's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

Yeah I do not know how to rate this book at all. This was one of the most challenging books I read in 2022, both in content but also in style. The experience of reading this book is draining. The sentences are short and grammatically incorrect; the book grabs, twists, and pushes you through the pages with force. The content itself is very traumatizing, and the main character's mind (which the reader occupies) is simply messy. This book took me nearly a month to read just because I couldn't sit down and breeze through pages. However, I didn't hate this book. It was definitely one of the most unique books I've picked up, but I'm glad I read it overall. This one will definitely stay in my mind for how McBride wields the English language as a weapon for building atmosphere and character. 

As an experience: this book is maybe a 3.5 star read. Its difficult and challenging with very, very few hopeful moments. The relationship between the main character and her brother (to me) felt underdeveloped in their youth and hence the end of the book didn't have the same impact as I felt it could have had. The ending however, is beautifully written, and I really did enjoy it. I also understand the different themes the book juggled (sexuality, coming of age, and religion) but I felt like there was a lot happening all the time that wasn't really developed (?). Things just happened with no real need or reason, which is very fair because that's how life is! But it led it to be a little bland at times. I also understand the reasoning for the main character's sexuality 'growth' (not the right word) but it was extremely uncomfortable to read about.
As a piece of literature: probably 4 / 4.5 stars. I love how unique and aggressive the style is -- it draws you in and persuades you to keep reading. It's almost as if the writing is another character that improves the characters in the novel. I also commend McBride for sticking through and getting this book published after 9 years of rejections. It's definitely worth a read (IF you look through the warnings first and are in a good head space) but don't expect an easy read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcohol

abithoughtful's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Difficult in all senses of the word. The stream of consciousness is very immediate but the broken sentences mean you have to invest all your attention to keep up, and investing all your attention makes the whole thing hurt more. Raw and violent and horribly sad, I'm not sure I gained much from sitting beside this particular pain, because too much of it is close enough to my life experiences that it didn't really broaden my mind so much as force me into my own memories. I can see how this might be considered a work of genius, and I think it's a valuable read for anybody who can situate themselves further away from the narrator, but I was left feeling scratched and hollow in a way that felt a little personal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Minor: Ableism and Excrement

the book ends with an implied drowning

miles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism and Excrement

tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, and Grief

richthegreat's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Okay, wow. Firstly the book is insanely well written, think stream of consciousness in Irish. It is quite a challenge and I think Eimear is clearly a gifted writer. 
I love stream of consciousness writing, and for me this book did not disappoint, her writing is absolutely stunning, but you have to like that sort of thing. If you can't manage Woolf, or Joyce then don't bother here, as McBride is even more.
That is where my praise ends, this book is pure violence and I would have never read it had I known. There is so much rape, and hate and incest and trauma. The book is trauma, only read it if you are prepared. I have nothing to say that is positive about the plot it is essentially just trauma being passively and actively inflicted on the main character, by herself, others and the catholic church.

For me I can't separate the content from the stunning prose, I found the book so triggering and upsetting that no amount of excellent writing can make up for it. I cannot emphasise enough that you MUST be extremely careful if you undertake to read this book.

Personally if I never read another book about a person getting abused and then engaging in horrendous self hate I will be just fine. I know this stuff happens, and I understand the human capacity to inflict pain on ourselves and others, but I can't read about it anymore, not on this scale. 
I am happy to be challenged on my view of this, I appreciate as a man I may not understand the full authenticity of the lead characters emotions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

dimanabookmark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, and Vomit