Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

81 reviews

juliatsang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment and Adult/minor relationship

wytherwytch's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

Really enjoyed this book. The whole things with words disappearing was a little weird but I still really enjoyed it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Death, Dementia, War, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Alcohol

vegotter's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Sexual assault, Death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Trafficking, Torture, Bullying, Sexual content, and Pedophilia

aposthuma's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

This book left me with a LOT of thoughts. I think I'm rating it 3.5 stars. I didn't care much about Ruth's POV and thought it was pretty slow, but Nao's parts were incredibly thought-provoking, bringing up themes like time, mortality, and permanence. Fair warning, this book is DARK. Far darker than i went in expecting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

apeileing's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts

stevienielson's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexual assault, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, War, and Sexual violence

louisemcaw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Suicide, War, and Rape

veronica0mcdougall's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Death, Fatphobia, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

rainbowesque's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.75

It didn't reach 5 star for me only because the ending eluded me. I couldn't fully understand exactly where the author wanted to go. I was kind of feeling more- more of what? I don't know. Otherwise, the book made me feel a lot of feelings. Althoug  it took me one month to read, I never felt bored or on the days when I didn't touch the book, I hadn't felt like I forgot the story. It was rare for me. There is indeed some kind of 'urgency' (in Ruth's words) in the book that makes a reader keep wanting to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Rape, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Death

thyprincess's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

"And yet, at night I lie on my bed, counting my beads, one for every thing on earth I love, on and on, in a circle without end."

A Tale for the Time Being is perhaps best regarded as a tale across time and space, with the voices of Nao, a young Japanese schoolgirl, and Ruth, a quiet islander (also writer). This magical realism novel explores themes of Zen Buddhism, Quantum Mechanics, and Conscience, though most times you'll have to think real hard about what it's trying to get at. 

Nao's voice is witty and quick, whereas Ruth is a more slow and soft voice, which acts as a buffer for the horrible experiences Nao details in her diary. The build up is slow, but once the mysteries of Nao's family begin to unravel themselves, the pace picked up and it became an enjoyable read, though at times stilted given the amount of context you have to contemplate on to understand the feelings conveyed. 

Still, I enjoyed the lesson it was sharing - one grounded on our individual and collective Time Beings, and it will leave me pondering on these fleeting moments in time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Physical abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship