Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso

6 reviews

ktrain3900's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

What a strange book (and I like strange) but also so depressing I felt it was negatively affecting my mood. Every woman and girl had at least one trauma which made this lovely sparse prose and intriguing story so hard to read. I couldn't follow how the family could be poor enough to only afford the cheapest clothes and do so much shopping at the dump, yet they're buying a huge rich person's home (and no a death in the house doesn't depreciate value that much) nor did the year 1985, mentioned once, seem to fit the time (at least not when the story moved forward in time). My favorite part was when Ruthie imagined Winifred's life. I'm left feeling a bit empty, or at least grateful it ended when it did. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Incest, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Bullying, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

rebekahvldz's review

challenging sad fast-paced

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

0.5

I can very confidently say this is the worst book I have ever read in my entire 25 years of living .I would've DNF'd but I had to read it for school. More thoughts to follow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Body horror, Incest, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Eating disorder, Confinement, Child abuse, and Sexual content

lil13's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Excrement, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Child abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, and Rape

zwin's review

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Body shaming, Child abuse, Bullying, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, and Sexual violence

lyhtning's review

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

onmalsshelf's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

If anything, this is a good palette cleanser book if you’re unsure what to pick up next because you’ll want to pick up anything else after finishing this one. 

I found this stilted with brief bits of plot that would slightly develop and then get immediately cut off. This was more of a show than a tell kind of book and read more like an outline of memoir that was left unfinished. 

I think I can see what the author was trying to do with this dark piece of literary fiction, but the stilted prose just didn’t work for me. 

I’m glad I picked this up on audio from the library via Libby as it was a very quick listen (4hrs and 21min at 1x) instead of purchasing as it would be an immediate unhaul.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Alcohol, Body shaming, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis