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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
Wow. I loved this book. I didn’t want it to end but I wanted it to end happy. I wanted all the stars and moons and skies to align for Eli and Gus.
Intertwined with details throughout. Details. That kept coming back round to meet the story again. That had relevance and depth and beauty. Although brutal, very very beautiful. The relationships between many different types of love, captured like I had opened my heart and poured my own experiences of love onto a page with words I never knew needed to be said. Or read.
Felt like I had stepped back in time with Trent and watched memories like being in Dumbledores pensieve when I read his chapters. I related with aspects of the feelings and the magic described in this book. The unlimited power of magic we have in us as children with our siblings and what as humans we can suppress and manipulate our minds into thinking.
Its a love story. But not another typical one. Its a story of love between different relationships that aren’t acknowledged as much as they should be. Thank you Trent!
Intertwined with details throughout. Details. That kept coming back round to meet the story again. That had relevance and depth and beauty. Although brutal, very very beautiful. The relationships between many different types of love, captured like I had opened my heart and poured my own experiences of love onto a page with words I never knew needed to be said. Or read.
Felt like I had stepped back in time with Trent and watched memories like being in Dumbledores pensieve when I read his chapters. I related with aspects of the feelings and the magic described in this book. The unlimited power of magic we have in us as children with our siblings and what as humans we can suppress and manipulate our minds into thinking.
Its a love story. But not another typical one. Its a story of love between different relationships that aren’t acknowledged as much as they should be. Thank you Trent!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot: Set in Brisbane, Australia in 1985, Boy Swallows Universe follows Eli as he navigates life as best he can. With a father in prison, a mother addicted to drugs (with his stepfather being her dealer), and a mute brother, things are hard enough as is; but when he comes into contact with Tytus Broz, a violent drug dealer, he struggles to stay on the right path. And things only go downhill from there...
Genre: Coming of age, friendship, family, love, brotherhood.
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Thoughts While Reading:
Thoughts at 57%:
1. I live on the Gold Coast in Australia, and therefore I know many of the landmarks and locations mentioned in Boy Swallows Universe. It's so weird to be reading (or in this specific case, listening) to a book, and be really familiar with the places described. It makes is a tonne more realistic, that's for sure.
2. I'm torn about how I feel about this book. It's so depressing so far, and I guess I can relate with the main character a bit too much. Not that our childhoods were at all similar, I don't know. Maybe it's from working in child protection for way too long. Either way, I'm struggling with this book. It was a huge relief when the magic realism aspects became more pronounced (like with the phone), because it allowed me to disassociate from the story a bit more. It also made it read as more of a fictional story, which helped. But still, this is a hard read for me. This book had been on my radar for a while, and I have continually chosen not to read it, because I think I could tell that it wasn't for me. But then someone recommended it... Sigh. And here I am. People seem to love it, so maybe the ending makes it.
3. Don't get me wrong, Boy Swallows Universe is not a bad book. It can be downright lyrical at times, and it is definitely effective at painting a picture for the reader. I understand the decisions that Eli makes, and why, and I empathise with him. Objectively, this is a good book. Subjectively, I just don't like it
Plot: Set in Brisbane, Australia in 1985, Boy Swallows Universe follows Eli as he navigates life as best he can. With a father in prison, a mother addicted to drugs (with his stepfather being her dealer), and a mute brother, things are hard enough as is; but when he comes into contact with Tytus Broz, a violent drug dealer, he struggles to stay on the right path. And things only go downhill from there...
Genre: Coming of age, friendship, family, love, brotherhood.
----------
Thoughts While Reading:
Thoughts at 57%:
1. I live on the Gold Coast in Australia, and therefore I know many of the landmarks and locations mentioned in Boy Swallows Universe. It's so weird to be reading (or in this specific case, listening) to a book, and be really familiar with the places described. It makes is a tonne more realistic, that's for sure.
2. I'm torn about how I feel about this book. It's so depressing so far, and I guess I can relate with the main character a bit too much. Not that our childhoods were at all similar, I don't know. Maybe it's from working in child protection for way too long. Either way, I'm struggling with this book. It was a huge relief when the magic realism aspects became more pronounced (like with the phone), because it allowed me to disassociate from the story a bit more. It also made it read as more of a fictional story, which helped. But still, this is a hard read for me. This book had been on my radar for a while, and I have continually chosen not to read it, because I think I could tell that it wasn't for me. But then someone recommended it... Sigh. And here I am. People seem to love it, so maybe the ending makes it.
3. Don't get me wrong, Boy Swallows Universe is not a bad book. It can be downright lyrical at times, and it is definitely effective at painting a picture for the reader. I understand the decisions that Eli makes, and why, and I empathise with him. Objectively, this is a good book. Subjectively, I just don't like it
Great read. One of the best books I've read this year. A coming of age saga set in Australia. Did not want it to end actually!
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Wonderful book, beautiful writing. Funny, moving, traumatic events yet not depressing.
A fabulous unputdownable read! Something for everyone. Crime, love, family, suspense, morality.
4+ stars!! Definitely worth a read!!
My reasoning for keeping it sub-5 comes down to just a few matters of personal taste.
For one, the plot/subject matter was a bit more heavy-handed/aggressive/graphic than I’m used to. (Although, after adjusting, I ended up getting into it!)
Also, I enjoyed how Dalton’s fragmented style set up the novel’s end, but it ended up being a bit too much/too obscure at some points in the beginning and middle.
And some moments just didn’t quite click for me - it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when, but I remember at times not feeling convinced by the narrator’s or August’s
thoughts/actions.
At the end, despite being strong and engaging, it just didn’t quite knock me off my feet in the way a 5-star read would.
That said, this book really does shine when the key questions are resolved and the tension of Dalton’s prose finally clicks into place. The climax(es) packed major punches and I really couldn’t put the book down by the end.
Overall, I found it quite compelling and would certainly recommend to a friend!
My reasoning for keeping it sub-5 comes down to just a few matters of personal taste.
For one, the plot/subject matter was a bit more heavy-handed/aggressive/graphic than I’m used to. (Although, after adjusting, I ended up getting into it!)
Also, I enjoyed how Dalton’s fragmented style set up the novel’s end, but it ended up being a bit too much/too obscure at some points in the beginning and middle.
And some moments just didn’t quite click for me - it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when, but I remember at times not feeling convinced by the narrator’s or August’s
thoughts/actions.
At the end, despite being strong and engaging, it just didn’t quite knock me off my feet in the way a 5-star read would.
That said, this book really does shine when the key questions are resolved and the tension of Dalton’s prose finally clicks into place. The climax(es) packed major punches and I really couldn’t put the book down by the end.
Overall, I found it quite compelling and would certainly recommend to a friend!
did not finish AGAIN. i tried to read this twice
i am not down w/ the racism
i am not down w/ the weird vague poeticness of this book because its not engaging
support local authors yes but I don't understand why this was popular and I just. don't like it. thank you for your time
also why did it skip ages so fastly and weirdlyu it gave no sense of satistfaction
i am not down w/ the racism
i am not down w/ the weird vague poeticness of this book because its not engaging
support local authors yes but I don't understand why this was popular and I just. don't like it. thank you for your time
also why did it skip ages so fastly and weirdlyu it gave no sense of satistfaction
This wonderful story told from the view point of Eli Bell as he grows up in 80's Queesland and darkside of the drug trade. I like how this book describes seens on people in an unquie way as well as the twist in story and true aspects that the author has woven through the story. It is a differently a coming of age story in hard circumstances. Recommend this if you like a story were charcters are memorable.