Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni

10 reviews

marioosa517's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Death of parent, Racism, Child abuse, Bullying, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Cancer, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Death, Blood, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Police brutality, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Addiction, Grief, Murder, and Mental illness

Minor: Infertility, Transphobia, Animal death, Excrement, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

revolvingreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

katiehearn08's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder, and Suicide

bailey_books's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

Dark story and a lot of Catholic themes, but it kept me engaged and came to a satisfying ending. I got the feeling that it was kind of like a poor man’s John Irving book, if that makes sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Gun violence

mkhumphrey's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Wonderful, inspiring story; one all should read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual content

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, Murder, Stalking, Infidelity, Death, Dementia, Gun violence, and Infertility

ocean_the_reader's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

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

2.5

This was an okay story. Was too religious cor my personal liking. Also the n-word (hard ER) was used and I didn't see anything that said the author was black. Which made me feel weird, especially as I read this via audio and it is narrated by the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.5

 What a wonderful heart-warming read The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell was. Born with ocular albinism which gave his eyes a reddish tinge Sam attracted more than his fair share of unwanted attention and bullying over the years. But this was balanced by the love and support of his mother, father and a couple of close friends. His quiet coming of age story reminded me in some ways of A Prayer for Owen Meany, although the religious faith motif did not grate on me the way it did in that book. I enjoyed the way the story unfolded with adult Sam looking back on his life to date. I loved the book’s key theme - what truly makes an extraordinary life - embodied in the quote below. It’s a message I think we need to hear more often.

“…while we tend to remember the dramatic incidents that change history…we live for the quiet, intimate moments that mark not our calendars but our hearts: The day we marry. The days our children are born….And when our children grow, we remember those moments with a touch of melancholy:the day they get their driver’s license,…the day they marry, and the day they have their children….We realize it is in those quiet moments that each of us has the ability to make our lives extraordinary.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Racism

cocoa1277's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Racism

thebookwormkatie's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Suicide