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Reviews tagging 'Self harm'
Molto forte, incredibilmente vicino by Massimo Bocchiola, Jonathan Safran Foer
31 reviews
chronicoverthinker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I had many issues with this book:
In general this book really tried to be different and trendy, as example with it's pages being filled with only one sentence. I know it's the grandpa's book but why would he only write one sentence on a page? Make it make sense!!
The characters are my biggest issue: the grandma literally spend her whole life doing nothing and then kind of getting back together with the grandpa because she didn't even know if she loved him but she loved not being alone? Apart from this line and intention being extremely unhealthy amd toxic, why didn't she just marry another person instead of being sad and somehow always watching oskar?? I mean if it wasn't about loving Thomas, then why would it be him again?
Her way of working through her trauma was really upsetting because she pretended that her actions were normal (the nail thing) even though she had problems with leaving people the fuck alone and Oskar probably just assumef every Grandma is so controlling and focused on their grandson like wtf.
Even though the Mother knew where Oskar was all this time it's still upsetting that she never asked him or did something. I don't think letting a nine year old randomly walk three hours through new york to find some strangers and talk to them in their apartment is a good idea. Sure, there qas the 6A Black in the end but before that??
And then there was Oskar himself: described as being an intelligent nine year old boy who knew so many random things and always asked the right questions. He was so annoying, the way he just started assuming things about people he just met and really pressured them into doing things wtf. He knew since he first met her that Abby Black was hiding something and HE didn't ask. And didn't listen to the voice messages on his dad's phone. And he still blames her for the fact that she lied?? Lying isn't cool and everything but she has the right to not tell him her entire lifestory and keep her secrets HE LIED THE WHOLE FUCKING BOOK and he didnt use the phone so it really isn't her fault and I hate that he makes himself the victim because hEs jUsT a niNe yEaR oLd bOy.
Abby Black's and his relationship was generally weird. First, he tried to convince her to kiss him (she's in her 30's or 40's and he's 9), she said no several times, he didn't stop. And then SHE TELLS HIM TO KISS HER eight months later and that she is going to kiss him back wtf.
Additionally to living the double standard and randomly having the urge to kiss grown women Oskar's also racist.
He describes Chinese people in a really disgusting way and compared their eyes to how he squeezes them (he said something similar to "they look like you're really chinese"). There's a taiwanese guy with a I♡NY button. Oskar, who's supposed to be super smart, things, it means something related to his love to taiwan and asia, becaude the Y or N and the I have a similar sound. Why does he know that a language he doesn't speak and the N or Y of his native language have a similar sound but he doesn't know what I♡NY means, while living in New York City?? He could have seen the obvious but he chose to be racist.
In the end, this whole book is just disappointing, the whole story is pointless, everyone's sad, they proceed to ignore their problems and trauma, there's still no communication and it's just fucking boring.
Graphic: Self harm
Minor: Self harm, Sexism, and Racism
zaraha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, War, and Self harm
blondeslater's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Racism and Abandonment
Minor: Self harm
bea_becker's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: War and Self harm
It deals heavily with 9/11.mikayla_ruth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
I started this book anticipating a National Treasureesque story told in the voice of a nine-year old boy. Expecting an exciting, light-hearted, adventure story, I was left unsatisfied.
Instead, through the stories of those who are learning to grieve, are grieving, and have failed to grieve, Foer shows the heavy, sometimes inexplicable emotions that come with pain and loss. As an exploration of the emotional effects of crises on human hearts, I liked it more.
Why I didn’t like it:
- At times, some of the details about Oskar seemed unbelievable. He has a lot of freedom in a lot of city for a nine year old. And he has some thoughts that show more maturity than nine years would give. Maybe I would have trusted his process more if he were eleven or twelve, but this made the story less believable for me.
-The couple’s sub plot is sad, dysfunctional and, at times, frustrating. While it does seem plausible if you followed some poor decisions out to their end, I personally am unsure if it made me want to read the book.
- While not a hard read, it is not fast paced and can be hard to follow.
Things I liked:
- Foer utilizes various voice styles, page layout methods, and artistic tools throughout the novel to capture the story’s emotion.
- The ending resolves the story and does not. It leaves you with emotion more than conclusion. I liked it.
- Fore’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is unique in its voice and purpose. It was not my favorite book to read and I don’t think I would reread it. But after finishing the book and processing its entirety, I appreciate it more.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Self harm, Mental illness, and Adult/minor relationship
thatgirlemili's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Self harm
aidrielle's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Ableism, Racism, Islamophobia, and Rape
vhenan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Minor: Death of parent and Self harm
georgiesutton's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
Although it was intentionally unclear who the narrators were of the multiple perspectives it was very confusing and I did not care for the characters. I was intrigued but then too little information was given and the perspectives were seemingly unrelated and also formatted in a way that made following the narrative difficult.
The lack of paragraphs was the major detail that ruined this book for me (and even then this was inconsistent). Again, I know it is a style but it was just horrible to read and so I didn’t read large chunks of text because it was just too hard.
I wanted to like this book but it was unpleasant to read so I can not recommend it despite the story itself being nice. Maybe try an audio book version.
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Self harm and Suicide
miles's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, and Self harm