Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

7 reviews

librarymouse's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.5

The Museum of Extraordinary Things was one of my favorite books as a teenager. I reread it recently to see if it's still holds up. I didn't remember Coralie being so religious as a child, though it tracks with the conservatism forced upon her by her father.

I didn't remember how it ended when I went into the book. I read another review or somebody said that the epilogue ruined it for them, but I think that might be the nicest way that Alice Hoffman could have tied up the loose ends. All Coralie ever wanted was to live a normal life. What she got was a normal life that she did not have to change herself to achieve, a husband who loves her, and a skill in fiber crafting that the part of herself she'd considered a deformity makes her exceptional at. I wish Maureen the world and then some. She's a wonderful character throughout the novel, but to know that she came to the professor beautiful and unscarred, and then stayed to raise Coralie after professor threw acid in her face makes her all the stronger mother figure, regardless of whether or not Coralie is biologically hers. I am glad for the implications in the epilogue that Eddie reconnected with his father and to some extent his religion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Classism, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual content, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Grief, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Medical content, Physical abuse, Blood, and Child abuse

Minor: Genocide

shoham's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

1.25

I liked all of it, it was wonderful! And then... The ending came to ruin it all. I listened to it on audiobook and I was fucking devastated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Police brutality, Murder, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Body shaming, Misogyny, Animal death, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Alcohol, and Mental illness

and this is clearly a very weird book, so beware of that

justagir1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Death, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol

booksbooks1's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense 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

3.75

its slow at first, but picks up later

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Murder, and Violence

lolasherwin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Drug use

livlostinstereo's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

After reading the Owens' Family books from Alice Hoffman (which I highly recommend!), I was recommended to read The Museum of Extraordinary Things over all of her other books. When I saw that my library had it, I just couldn't resist.
What a fantastic book. I struggled to put it down. Once again, Alice Hoffman delivers a masterclass on writing characters that feel so vividly real. Coralie and Eddie are wonderfully well-rounded characters.
The ONLY reason this isn't a 5 from me is because the ending felt slightly rushed. That's not to say it wasn't good - it just felt a bit rushed in comparison to the pace of the rest of the book.
But nothing will stop me from rereading this with the same love I have reread The Rules of Magic with time and time again.
The historical fiction of this story is truly immersive and just makes you want to read and learn more about the various events referenced.
If you read anything this winter, please let it be this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death, Gaslighting, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, and Self harm

Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

guinevere_s1994's review

dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I enjoyed this book. Which surprised me because after reading practical magic and being a bit disappointed (its my favourite film) I was expecting to dislike it . This book had a few sad moments but I really cared about their characters and wanted to find out what happened to them. It was easy enough to read, a nice slow pace which I needed after reading a book that was much more action and speed. With my last book I had to take regular breaks to digest everything that happened but with this I could sit and read it for a few chapters and not feel tired which was nice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Physical abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Police brutality, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, and Animal cruelty