Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

54 reviews

samangga's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Child abuse

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

rosecoleman's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Started very descriptive and therefore a bit slow but oh boy did it redeem itself, wow

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Murder

halftimelord's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Boy Swallows Universe had me hooked from the moment I picked it up. It's full of likeable characters (and monsters), and manages to be tense, heart-breaking and funny at the same time. When I got to the final act, I absolutely couldn't put the book down. Will be thinking about Eli and Gus for a long time! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Gore

innocentlyevil's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

4.5

 As someone living in Australia, every character is written is like someone you could bump into on the street (for better or worse!). Ugly spiderweb of how drugs, dv, poverty, gangs, mental health, crime and more spread out together with our main guy trapped at the centre. Believe it or not it still cracks a few good jokes. Ends a little too magical for me but that's only because the story begins sunk in scum. Great story! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

hazelheaded's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The book was intriguing and tense, though it was a traumatic read the majority of the time I kept coming back to it because I needed to know what happened.

Slim was a great babysitter!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Car accident

alnicholl77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Unsure at first, I stuck with this book and am so glad I did. It's a wonderfully written story with vibrant characters, good and bad, and evocative suburban settings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

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

niltic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? No

5.0

WOW! Rollercoaster read about a young boy coming of age in a family/community where drugs, crime and mental illness are prevalent. Once I started, I could not read this book fast enough. The story is surprising, raw, funny, and dream-like, with very vivid, lovable characters. Central mystery veers uncertainly into magical realism at times, but it doesn't matter because this plot's only there to give the story something to hang off. Felt very at-home with the Australiana of it all too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Drug abuse

Minor: Mental illness and Grief

The most complicated feelings are around family in this book--highs and lows! Biggest concern areas would be

parental neglect/abandonment, death of parents/carers and domestic violence

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barabarayorkie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

Such a heartfelt and touching story. Eli and Gus pull at your heartstrings from the first page. Such an incredible book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, and Violence