Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

45 reviews

dmac246011's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death and Suicide

alessguise's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Minor: Slavery

adoras's review against another edition

dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death of parent

abigail_spencer's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I wanted to like this book but I just found it upsetting to read, the women are treated despicably and the central character is difficult to empathise with or like. What i did enjoy was the lovely insight into culture and the overarching themes but I detested the m/c being such a chauvinist and sexist person. In addition the end of the book made a wonderful point, i just wish i could have had this heart-wrenching story from the perspective of a character who wasn't so detestable that it distracted from the bigger  issues. The misogyny is so overwhelming without seeming to criticize anything or prompt you to question things, for example one of the women is not even given a name beyond 'Nwoye's mother'. It talked about terrible things without really seeming to care that they were terrible.

Overall, excellently written but I couldn't relate on any personal level due to how unpleasant the main character was. Not sure why Achebe chose to write about such a character, but then again im not a literature student or expert so decifering that is better left to someone else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

jamieruwen's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I didn’t necessarily enjoy reading it, but the portrayal of these people’s way of life being  ripped apart by Christian missionaries and the fact that I’d never read about that before, and how gutted I was in the end, redeemed it for me. Necessary story but I didn’t feel touched by it for a large portion of the time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Suicide and Violence