Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

29 reviews

sapphic_alpaca's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Violence, Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Outing, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Homophobia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Outing, and Grief

rafacolog's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Animal cruelty, War, Homophobia, Grief, and Murder

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

bexi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, and Animal death

indeedithappens's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

ninahuynh's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Such a nostalgic book. Growing up, I had watched and heard renditions of  Tấm Cám . This is definitely a different version from what I have heard and watched before in my childhood, but has that same element of gore in the end that Disney would not approve of. I found it warm how Helen changed the ending of The Little Mermaid to segue into showing Tiến how she supports and loves him. I love the áo dài  in Tấm Cám. Represent!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Religious bigotry

abookwormspov's review

emotional 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Cancer, Homophobia, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Outing, Physical abuse, Bullying, Medical content, Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Chronic illness, Murder, Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, and Terminal illness

pam_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Cannibalism

Minor: Murder, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Outing, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, and Violence

erebus53's review

emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

As someone who is a reader of queer and migrant fiction, and reinterpreted fairytales, this was a really cool way of exploring some issues.

This is beautifully illustrated with super clean lines and a subtle colour palette. It's really easy on the eyes. The author's notes after the story fleshed out a lot of the ideas that he had developing the characters and the influences that were integrated to give each character, time and country a unique sense of place.  The ballet scenes gave me Revolutionary Girl: Utena vibes. 

This is a story of hope, that explores what it is like to find belonging when you are between worlds. It's a way to find words when your language doesn't quite match up with your deepest feelings, and though it's told through shared fairytale stories, these serve as a starting point for understanding real life. 

I'm going to try and convince my daughter to read this one because I think it might be right up her alley... and isn't sharing stories what it's all about?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Blood