Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak

160 reviews

chargriffith's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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This book was so close to a 4/5 star book. But it fell apart at the end.

I really enjoyed the idea of reliving someone's life via stories told every minute of the 10 minutes during which their brain is shutting down due to death.  The flashbacks were told so well, and you really got to understand the character and the most important people in her life.

Where it fell apart was after the 10 minutes one jumped to her friends and a "quest".


Edited to add:

I was talking with my husband about the ending, and he had a good insight into why the author chose to end it the way they way they did.  The story was about being seen as unimportant in society and how even in death, it was the same. This made me understand why the author chose to end this way rather than end the moment her brain shut down completely.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault

matmatmatty's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful sad tense 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

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This is the story of Leila, a sex worker in Istanbul, who while dying is remembering her life and the moments that led up to her death.

This is a very emotional story, with Leila going through a lot on her childhood and a lot as an adult. Through the story, we learn about her closest friends she met along the way and all the characters felt so real and so complex.

Spoiler:

The second part of the story follows Leila's friends deciding to give her a proper burial and did feel a bit like a different story. I think it could've flowed a bit better but I am glad that we got a happy end. Once we hear about Leila's story, the book could have ended there and it would have been a sad story.  But with this, we know she is a peace and everyone is a little closer because of that.

Overall, I really loved this story, it was very emotional at times and I felt for Leila at every point. Beautiful story ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Child death, Fatphobia, Incest, Self harm, Sexual violence, Transphobia

jenncortes's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A street walker’s life told in snippets of memories as her brain shuts down. Beautiful story of how Leila survived life and found family in 5 other outcasts of society. 

Could have been a 5 star but prose was a bit dry. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual harassment

melina03's review against another edition

3.0

dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Sexual harassment

terppsi's review against another edition

4.25

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I really loved the first part, how the memories were evoked from smells and tastes.
Second part could have been shorter, that's the only reason I don't give it a 5.
Very curious about her other work

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Alcohol

sable222's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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I really don’t know how to feel about this book, in the end it just seems to me that it’s trying too hard to be diverse and inclusive in sort of a shallow way but then there’s some really beautiful genuine moments that made me feel something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence

eva_lesemaus's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional inspiring sad fast-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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Trafficking, Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexism, Grief, Mass/school shootings

katrinarose's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional 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

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Shafak does such an a wonderful job of setting the scene in Istanbul and the other various settings in Turkey. Her way of bringing a character to life in just a chapter is amazing, and I felt so much for Leila that I became sadder each chapter knowing that she had died. The character study and friendship development is definitely the most important and impactful part of this book, not the plot. It’s a beautiful and tragic story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

e11en's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy

daniellekat's review against another edition

3.75

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I loved part one (Mind) and thought this was on its way to 5 stars, but parts 2 (Body) and 3 (Soul) lost me. Shafak is a masterful writer and her descriptive style perfectly suits the novel's time and setting. My main criticism with this is the same for my last Shafak read (The Island of Missing Trees) - too much information is given to the reader. Especially in Part 2, there were too many perspectives and explicit details that I thought would have been more powerful left untold. I loved the found family aspect of this book and the way their grief manifested among them. I wish we were given more time with each of the friends but overall this was another well balanced blend of history and fiction. I highly recommend checking the content warnings on this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Transphobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Alcohol