Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

46 reviews

stevienielson's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual content, and Self harm

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual assault

candournat's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

Overwhelmingly depressing and unbelievably triggering. Better written than Normal People, but somehow I enjoyed it slightly less. Hated the open ending but guess that’s Sally Rooney’s style. Excellent political commentary as expected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Blood, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Miscarriage and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault

valentine_c's review against another edition

funny reflective medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Self harm

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Mental illness

Minor: Classism, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

lex_r's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• 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

3.5

This novel was unexpected and it was refreshing to read something that appealed to my age range in this way. In many ways I can relate to Frances, although concerning most of the time, her demeanor doesn't shy away from the nasty parts of maturing and the uncomfortable moments of post adolescents. I find that Rooney's writing and layers create a realistic narrative, and I found myself engrossed in the story, not necessarily because I loved the characters but because it made me feel seen. Frances isn't necessarily morally good or bad, she is herself, and at times you can see that it is painful being her and the narrative does a good job self reflecting her pain but also exemplifying other extenuating circumstances, while maintaining some ashamed personal responsibility. She isn't striving to transform but rather living her life with passive authenticity while making many mistakes and consitently making morally ambiguous and wrong decisions. The book is also an excellent check in narcissism and communication. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Miscarriage and Infertility

anna_2022's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

1.5

I found this book really bland, and the storyline tedious. By the middle of the book, I was so bored but I kept going. The end of the book was a little better but I really disliked the ending.

I loved Normal People so this Sally Rooney book was a bit of disappointment. I also think there should have been more content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide attempt

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Sally Rooney is one of my favorite authors, and I loved this novel as much as her other two.

Conversations with Friends, follows 21 year old Frances as she becomes involved in a messy relationship with a married man. While it is not a traditional love story by any means, Rooney emphasizes the significance of connections to our identity. This book reminded me that growing up is more of a social construct and less of an age defining measure. Frances made flawed  decisions, as did the other characters, which really highlight the individualities and complexities which Rooney focuses on.  If you love in depth character analysis as well as a chaotic story of love and friendship, Conversations with Friends is for you.

*this is a debut novel, so pacing and writing is different from NP and BWWAY.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Addiction, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Body horror, Gaslighting, and Classism

grasshopperjungle's review

4.5

Seriously adore Sally Rooneys works. It was just so honest and real and raw (cliche I know but I loved it) and there were so many points in this novel where I couldn’t even believe it was written by someone and not just magically copied from the mind of the main character, Frances. Its just so digestible yet leaves you with way too much to think about when you’re done within 1-3 readings. Highly recommend.

Only thing I do have to mention negatively about this book, and Sally Rooney’s other works, is the negative portrayal and connotations behind kink and BDSM. I get it, it’s social/sexual commentary and I do think it’s valid, but that doesn’t make it any less harmful, shameful and sex negative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Chronic illness, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

dannythestreet's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Cursing, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Infertility

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Car accident, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Homophobia, Police brutality, Sexual violence, and War

haleylooloo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-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? Yes

4.0

This books was so interesting. Sally Rooney sure knows how to write them. 

I found the characters were likable, despite the fact that I normally have very strong moral lines drawn around the decisions that the characters made. I appreciated the moral ambiguity and lack of concrete conclusion to the issues at the end. The discussions had by the main characters were very interesting, and Frances’ internal dialogue was quite thought provoking. As a woman of similar age, I feel like I have had many of the same lines of thought as her, particularly around self-image and things like that, though Rooney always seems to take it a bit further. I also really appreciated the detailed episodes of endometriosis pain. It is something that so many women struggle with and I like that she didn’t shy away from describing the pain, and also the anxiety of not knowing what’s going on & subsequent helplessness once you know.

Overall, I haven’t entirely entirely decided how I feeling/what I think about this book. Will likely edit this review soon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

sami_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Addiction