Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

8 reviews

caties_books's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Phenomenal! I never knew 900 pages could go so fast 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Infidelity, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Blood, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs

peanutparker's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Death, Violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Murder, War, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Cancer, Dementia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Kidnapping

shel_bay11's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Child death, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Trafficking, War, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Cancer, Dementia, and Incest

egg_cup's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This book!!!!!!!!!!!! reduced me to a sobbing pile of tears and snot!!! Reminds me of A Little Life but far less sadistic and with a happier ending. Definitely a new fave

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Violence, Sexism, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Racial slurs, and Medical content

phoebedowling's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

One of my favourites. The only reason why its not 5 stars is because the last section of the book was unnecessarily long, but because I was so invested in the story by then it didn't matter too much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Rape, Incest, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

saestrah's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Having this book on my TBR list for long enough that I forgot what the book was about, I almost stopped reading this after the end of the first part. To avoid spoilers, it wasn't subject matter I was particularly in the mood to read and it was just before going to bed. But I loved the narration from the first page so I picked it up again over breakfast and couldn't put it down. After staying up until four in the morning to finish it, and writing this after five hours of sleep, I still don't regret my decision.

The Heart's Invisible Furies is incredibly moving, with each chapter narrating Cycil's life in seven year increments. Despite the hardship of his life, from growing up gay in Ireland in the 40s to the AIDs pandemic in the 80s, Cycil's narration is incredibly funny. Often blinded by his own emotions, it's easy to get swept up in his struggles through relationships and identity, that when revelations come to life I was as shocked as he was. The plot had predictable moments with threads of coincidences too good to be true weaving throughout the story, but it's something that doesn't deminish how much I loved this book.

If you can give yourself enough time to read this book in one sitting, I fully recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

brynngaybee's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I read this on the recommendation of my manager who said it was her favorite book and I had to read it, while I am not quite sure it lived up to the hype I certainly enjoyed it a lot! I didn't care that much about the childhood parts but they were mostly funny enough. I liked a lot of the adult stuff more, although the characters drove me crazy sometimes. It was very sad but some other parts of the book were funny. My manager said it was similar to A Little Life which I have not read yet, but still may be a good option for fans of that book. There is a lot of coincidences and quite a bit of death and wild events going on. I am here for the drama, but it may not be for everyone. The way all the characters were interconnected was interesting to me, but it did not seem very realistic, depends on what you care about in a story I suppose. Overall, very well written and emotional. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Dementia, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

znvisser's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Drug use, and Torture