Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

29 reviews

crayolabird's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

Patch with his eyepatch and Saint with her chain-smoking, bus-driving grandma, are two misfit kids that find each other in middle school.  To have a true best friend, it's the greatest gift, especially at that age.  But both of their lives hit a complete trajectory shift when Patch is brave enough to defend a local girl from tragedy - and Saint is left behind.  Both of their experiences will lead to trauma and loss, love and a fierce desire to protect, as well as the kind of obsession that can both taint and color an entire lifetime.

Wow.  I went into this knowing nothing, as I love to do.  Reader, you should know that it is LONG.  Not QUITE too long, for me, but bordering on it.  Yes, it would've benefited maybe from some tighter editing, but when the climax came (me, with my hand over my mouth as I listened, barely breathing) I couldn't think what could've possibly been left out.  All the little details, they matter.  The cast of characters is large and complex and while there is both bone-deep friendship and the love of the family you choose, there is also a deep and complex kind of evil.  The kind that of evil watches you over your shoulder for decades and can't get away from.  

Here is all the things I loved in this book that swirled around to make this the kind of listening experience that lingered in my head: paintings hung in pride of place, honey making, tenacious investigators, the power of memory, the way people can rescue us both from literal catastrophe and from the demons inside us and, most of all, the beauty in a life, saved.

Five stars for how it captured me, in all the ways.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Bullying and Abortion

smkelly1997's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

Saint is determined to save Patch. Patch is determined to save her. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

faithemt's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

highly disappointing. Much preferred We Begin at the End by same author. 
this dragged on, was redundant in spots and took forever to resolve. LOTS of editing errors and even geographical ones (palmetto trees do NOt grow in mountains!! they're a seaside tree hahah). 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Abortion

harleyglynn's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

edhyndman's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

cathy61r's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Abortion

Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent

lindseylitlivres's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest and Rape

imfixintoread's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

An incredible read -- one I'll be thinking about for quite some time. It's a bit of a slow burn, though it does pick up during the last 200 pages. It's dark, repeatedly breaks your heart, and has so many plots. A love story, serial killer, prison escape, lifelong friendship, just to name a few of the plots throughout. It's a must-read. It's brilliant and will be one that I talk about and recommend for a while.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest

tayyy_mayyy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

kaitlyns_katalog's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I jumped into this book wanting it to be a fast-paced murder mystery but it's definitely a slower paced saga with a murder mystery storyline. Once I switched my mindset I got more into the book. All the characters seem to speak very metaphorically (which some characters being children seemed very unrealistic) and this also took me a while to adjust to. After a bit I came to appreciate the beautiful narration and the storyline kept me very interested. 600 pages is always a lot but I think this book is worth it, there were a few sections I thought could be cut down. But all in all it's a beautiful novel I laughed, I cried, I recommend!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment