Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

8 reviews

avidreadr's review against another edition

emotional funny sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

quiltmom14's review

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

5.0

The number one reason to read this book is the writing.  My 2nd Paul Murray booK, this one is even longer than Bee Sting, not as engaging in the beginning (= takes longer to be completely sucked in) but cements the author as one of my top 10 writers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Vomit, Sexual assault, Suicide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Pedophilia

susie_strawberry's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Sexual violence

annieo15's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Skippy Dies was a hard read for me, but only because it was written so well. Tragedy builds upon tragedy and glimmers of redemption are ruthlessly stamped out. But even as the book culminates in desperation and disillusionment, Murray allows for pinpricks of hope to remain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, and Suicide

pun1sher's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Don't pick up this book if you want a quick, easy read.
This is a dark, dark comedy where the bad guys get away with what they've done, kids go crazy, and adults are all liars or sad or both. Skippy dies is about everything and nothing at all; at moments it reads fast, on other occasions its slow and painful to get through. It takes effort to finish this book because it's weird illogical unsettling and resembles a dense mud puddle. I'm not sure if those struggles are exactly worth it for everyone, but I'm not going to regret the time spent finding out why Skippy died and what happened after. Those 600 something pages are a tangle of horny teenage boys, private schools, disturbing secrets of the Catholic priests, failed inventions, grief, toxic relationships, donuts, and whatnot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Eating disorder, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Animal death, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Infidelity, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, and Adult/minor relationship

homophobic slurs, vulgar discussion of sexual intercourse, fantasies of noncon/rape (including child rape), nword usage by white characters, attempted drugging

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny slow-paced

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

5.0

At first I was very intimidated by the length of this book (and the fact I had to read along and discuss with a partner I barely know) but it was so easy and worth it to become invested in the story. The subject matter is heavy (covering addiction, mental illness, racism, bullying etc) but it never loses its core tone, the humor that comes along with a group of clueless teenage boys just trying to figure things out.

Songs: 

• Undercover Martyn - Two Door Cinema Club
• Parking Lot - HUNNY
• Sex Sells - Lovejoy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcohol, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder

Minor: Cancer

alingtori's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was one hell of a book. At 661 pages, I didn't expect to finish it in a week. 

At the center of it all is of course, the titular character Skippy, whose death we encounter at the start of the book. Despite having his name in the title, Skippy doesn't really stand out much in the story. Instead, we get to hear from a wide set of characters--from students, teachers, priests, school administrator, and even a staff of a diner. Various themes and topics are also discussed--from string theory to pop culture to drug abuse. This might seem chaotic, but the author manages to piece them all together into a story. 

It's funny, it's dark, it's informative, it's thoughtful, it's distasteful. But isn't that what life is? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Cancer and Fatphobia

hrhacissej's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

The setting is a private boys school in Ireland. If you have spent any amount of time with teenage boys, you will know that nothing is safe from sexual innuendo. Murray captures the banter and the testosterone fueled behavior of teen boys really well. Avoid this book if you can't stomach it. Otherwise, it is worth your investment of time.