Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

5 reviews

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.75

Thank you to the 2025 StoryGraph Onboarding Challenge for bringing Boy Swallows Universe into my awareness for which I listened to the audiobook.

The prompt was: 
Read a book published between 2010-2020 that fits your reader profile but excludes your most-read genre.

I had to exclude my top genre, Young Adult and include all aspects of my reader profile:

.Mainly reads fiction books that are emotional, adventurous, and dark.

.Typically chooses medium-paced books that are 300-499 pages long.

I feel like my reader profile works to mention here since this book fit perfectly! I loved it.

Initially I had a difficult time following the book as I was not sure who was who or the settings but that became much easier and the characters were all really well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racism, Xenophobia, Dementia, and War

rhiannonhoward's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

camoo3032's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

1.75

Trent Dalton doesn't shy away from showing the darker bits of Australian society that we rarely get to see. Because this perspective is rarely shown, I would consider this book worth reading. I would warn fellow readers that this makes the book continuously confronting and it is certainly not a lighthearted read.
This provides the backdrop of a story that is far-fetched with descriptive writing that is quite abstract. I am sure there are people out there that would love this book but I found it was trying to be more profound than it actually is.
I also found that the female characters weren't as fully formed or complex as the male ones which is frustrating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

56bumblebees's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, Mental illness, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

sneako's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Grief