Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Perfectly Ordinary People by Nick Alexander, Nick Alexander

4 reviews

alex_767's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was amazing, would definitely recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Torture, Rape, Genocide, Antisemitism, Physical abuse, War, Suicide, Racism, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

lollybee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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

3.0

Despite the great reviews for Perfectly Ordinary People, I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed. Two stories run alongside each other: Ruth in the present day and a series of cassette tapes which are Ruth's grandmother recounting life during WWII. One of the issues for me was that the chapters were so long it interrupted the flow of the story making it feel disjointed.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, and Violence

cturn's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed this read a lot overall. It doesn't quite reach a full 4 stars for me as I didn't enjoy Ruth's story enough to rate it that high. In the middle especially, I was reading on through Ruth's story quickly to get back to reading through Genny's story. I understand the importance of Ruth's story to the novel, and how it served as the anchor to telling her father the truth about his life story, however I feel I would have enjoyed this book more if it was about Genny's story alone. Perhaps the book could have focussed on Genny's story and then wrapped up focusing on the impacts it had on Bill's outlook on life and his relationships with his family. This was an interesting read that I really struggled to put down, and I do recommend it, however it does come with some heavy scenes so do heed the trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Torture, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Rape, Body horror, Homophobia, War, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Suicide

Minor: Miscarriage

irb's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Homophobia, Hate crime, Genocide, Death of parent, Death, and Antisemitism