Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

29 reviews

hannah_cogo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Incest

kibiiiariii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Rape, Death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Classism, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

Oof

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Classism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Vomit

ireeeeeene's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Incest, Death of parent, and Vomit

jellyparfum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Blood, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, Hate crime, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Gore, Incest, Abandonment, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

ruthmoog's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

3.0

The book tells how the actions of a manipulative bad-actor ripple through the lives of others. I found the time perspective a little confusing, but I liked the motifs throughout the book (Popeye, love in Tokyo...) sometimes adding humour, other times more sinister.
I didn't enjoy it much, but before this book I had no idea about banana jam!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Child death, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Classism, Vomit, and Blood

Moderate: Abandonment

sir_ren's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

firstly as someone from the state and familiar with the culture- I have to laud the author for her observations and addition of details that feel incredibly authentic (for lack of a better term) and made the novel feel so probable and real. the meticulously written particulars all seem to stem from an intimate knowledge of the place and its people. I do not mean Kerala and Keralites but of Ayemenam and those characters.    

the novel has a rather simple story- the main plot. even though I could predict the general plot of the story (as the novel is written switching from the past and the present) it was still engaging and interesting thanks to the writing and the details. the construction of the novel-  the unfolding of events and use of language make it satisfying and rewarding to see it all come together. 

the "Kid Speak" used in the novel tends to be polarizing as far as I can tell. some people put the book down to never complete it due to the language. not that I am in a place to be telling anyone what to do with their time, but I would still seriously encourage readers to stick it out even if they are mildly irritated by the peculiarities. my experience is that I found it puzzling at first and then interesting, but the novelty wore off soon and it started to feel badly used. but this changed as I kept reading, the way Arundhati Roy built her novel and used language- the payoff was Real for me. the "quirkiness" of the language turned into a blessing as the novel went on. Intimacy is what I experienced again. in a novel all about this family- to speak their secret language and to have a few odd words and phrases evoke all the emotions and thoughts that they did was a moment of intimacy with the novel and its characters. 

another point of contention tends to be the "villain", who some find to be a cartoonishly evil/bad person. in my opinion, the character was believable. 

now for the parts I did not enjoy. the book describes or mentions a lot of the uglier sides of human nature/bodies/actions. I felt the number of instances was a little excessive. maybe one or two could have been cut and the book could still retain its integrity. 
and I felt the Kid Speak could have been cut in a few places. but I am glad the language was what it was

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Incest, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, and Excrement

Minor: Alcoholism

courfee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

The writing style is absolutely gorgeous, and Roy handled the themes with the painful beauty of the scars they leave. I would give 5-stars if the descriptions weren't so wrapped up in metaphor that it's difficult to understand what's actually happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Rape, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Blood

Minor: Child death

astridrv's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

What a complicated and impactful book. First of all, I adore the writing. Heads over heels with the way Arundhati Roy describes atmosphere, places, people, gazes, interactions, and all the tiniest details of the world is so vivid, refreshing, and colorful. I was there, I felt some sentences go straight to my heart. She also writes stunningly about childhood and brotherhood. As for the story: it meanders through different periods of time, mainly between a present family reunion and a traumatic series of events from the past. The end unfolds really well in pacing, after the many detours taken earlier on. I am not sure I understood everything, and this book certainly isn't for everyone. But the thing is, when you write this well, you can take me anywhere and I will follow. I look forward to rereading this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, and Child abuse

Minor: Incest

marjolainegenot's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

Absolutely beautiful. Emotional. Immersive. Playful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Mental illness