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challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Im finally, FINALLY done.
Never ever did i think that i would read a book this gross.
And yes, i regret it.
Where do i even start? Oh yeah let's share a few of the traumas i went through while reading this book:
- the dad putting his fingers in his daughters asshole and putting soap in it just so she can shit again, oh also fun to mention that he ate a cracker after doing that (no he didn't wash his hands)
- two sisters french kissing while one of them was literally dressed up as their dad
- MULTIPLE animal killings (in full detail)
- their brother showing his sisters his BoDypArT while the sister fantasized about touching it
- much more sweet home alabama stuff
- the same brother putting coca cola in his sisters hole, oh did she enjoy it you ask? yes. yes she did.
Okay i think i shared enough or too much to be honest. If you read all that and still have any and i mean ANY desire to read this book, go check in at a mental hospital.
The only good thing about this book was the writing, can't judge the writing at all even though what was written wasn't very appealing. Ha ha ha ...
1 star.
Never ever did i think that i would read a book this gross.
And yes, i regret it.
Where do i even start? Oh yeah let's share a few of the traumas i went through while reading this book:
- the dad putting his fingers in his daughters asshole and putting soap in it just so she can shit again, oh also fun to mention that he ate a cracker after doing that (no he didn't wash his hands)
- two sisters french kissing while one of them was literally dressed up as their dad
- MULTIPLE animal killings (in full detail)
- their brother showing his sisters his BoDypArT while the sister fantasized about touching it
- much more sweet home alabama stuff
- the same brother putting coca cola in his sisters hole, oh did she enjoy it you ask? yes. yes she did.
Okay i think i shared enough or too much to be honest. If you read all that and still have any and i mean ANY desire to read this book, go check in at a mental hospital.
The only good thing about this book was the writing, can't judge the writing at all even though what was written wasn't very appealing. Ha ha ha ...
1 star.
I really don’t know what to rate this book. I keep switching between 2 and 3 stars. I thought it was written very well, it was dark and distressing and I genuinely felt transported to this horribly claustrophobic farm. But that was also its downfall in the sense that it was almost *too* dark and distressing for me. There were many passages I struggled to get through as they were just too disgusting and uncomfortable. Honestly, I still don’t know how to feel. It’s definitely left me reeling; the ending was haunting. It’s just the graphic scenes, the abuse, incest, animal cruelty... altogether just a bit much for me personally.
75% incredibly uncomfortable imagery and 25% really great writing
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The time I spent reading this kept flipping between underwhelm and admiration - completely unlike anything I've read before and increasingly unhinged (but that's the point, right?). Not a huge amount actually happens but I kept reading because the tone is one of suspension, emotion unresolved, and I had to know where it landed. Fortunately it DID land somewhere (I did wonder if Rijneveld was going to leave us hanging there, it would have been a valid artistic choice imo) and when it did it totally winded me. A deeply uncomfortable novel punctuated by moments of brilliant sunlight, wildly sad and grotesque and somehow shining for it all.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Sexual content, Grief
Moderate: Suicide
in the beginning of reading this book i found so much of the imagery used confusing and unnecessary but as the book progressed, and we saw more of our protagonist and the family she’s forced to live with, it makes sense.
we see the impact of religious conservatism and the way it leaves children completely lost about the world around them; jas’ descriptions of things like masturbation, and the sadism with which it’s described shows how alien things like that are to them, and how any experience with things outside the scope of religious dogma turns extreme, unhealthy due to the forbidden release of natural things.
the main character is so complex and her pain and confusion in the world is palpable from the very first page. the ending was one i did not expect, and sent shivers down my spine. you feel absolute rage towards many of the characters, and your heart breaks with jas as we see how an innocent child is destroyed by parents who could not care less for her existence.
i wish some of the scenes were less graphic though sometimes it was too disturbing to read through.
some of the images of grief and mourning were painful in unprecedented ways:
“when we reach the grave, mum cleans the photo on his gravestone with a bit of spit and a hanky, as though she’s wiping away the imaginary milk residue from around Matthies’ mouth”
this is a story about a girl who cracks more and more every day, navigating the waters of a waterbed that’s swallowing her whole by the second.
images like her wrapping her frogs in chocolate wrappers so they don’t get cold are so heartbreaking, we imagine how her life could’ve been in a normal society, how happy she would’ve been.
we see the impact of religious conservatism and the way it leaves children completely lost about the world around them; jas’ descriptions of things like masturbation, and the sadism with which it’s described shows how alien things like that are to them, and how any experience with things outside the scope of religious dogma turns extreme, unhealthy due to the forbidden release of natural things.
the main character is so complex and her pain and confusion in the world is palpable from the very first page. the ending was one i did not expect, and sent shivers down my spine. you feel absolute rage towards many of the characters, and your heart breaks with jas as we see how an innocent child is destroyed by parents who could not care less for her existence.
i wish some of the scenes were less graphic though sometimes it was too disturbing to read through.
some of the images of grief and mourning were painful in unprecedented ways:
“when we reach the grave, mum cleans the photo on his gravestone with a bit of spit and a hanky, as though she’s wiping away the imaginary milk residue from around Matthies’ mouth”
this is a story about a girl who cracks more and more every day, navigating the waters of a waterbed that’s swallowing her whole by the second.
images like her wrapping her frogs in chocolate wrappers so they don’t get cold are so heartbreaking, we imagine how her life could’ve been in a normal society, how happy she would’ve been.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail