Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

13 reviews

vaguelyredhead's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Death

Minor: Ableism and Racism

smolone13's review against another edition

 Ratings: 

Goodreads: 4/5 

Storygraph: 3/5 

My Rating: 3/5 

Synopsis: 

A young boy, David Copperfield, has a hard life and learns to live through it. (This is really my synopsis of it because I DNF this novel.) 

My Review: 

I am going to start with if you love this novel, finish it, I applaud you. Myself, personally, struggled to even get to page 300 of this novel. It honestly felt repetitive and I understand the time period, but the abuse, neglect, and the fact his mother after re-marrying just didn’t care for him was hard to get through. The characters feel a little lackluster as well. I am truly hoping that maybe at some point I will have a different mindset and a different perspective and pick this book up again and attempt to complete it all the way through. 

That being said, I really only picked this book up to read because I wanted to understand Demon Copperhead since I know it is based off of this classic. However, I think just the synopsis alone will help me understand how heartbreaking Demon Copperhead is going to be. 

Happy reading! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

thewillowwood's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

I think this is a good book overall, but I think the format of the book as a whole novel doesn’t do it any favours. One can tell that this was meant to be read over various instalments, more like an episodic thing than one concise novel. in order to finish this book in a timely manner I had to force my way through it, and I believe I would have enjoyed it more over a longer period of time. An interesting book, but be warned that it is an investment of time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Death of parent, Child abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Ableism, Colonisation, Infertility, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, and Antisemitism

impla77's review against another edition

adventurous funny slow-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

4.5

charles dickens is the master of the recurring joke

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

leahgustafson's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I cannot believe I actually finished this one AND enjoyed it so much. I had attempted to read it back in 2018 but ended up putting it aside because I couldn’t get through it. I’m so glad I gave it another try! 

• 

One thing I can’t get over is how readable Dickens is! I didn’t struggle with understanding the language at all. I also sometimes struggle with the classics on audio, and that wasn’t the case for this one either. I was very easily able to flip back and forth between print and audio. 📖🎧 

• 

The characters MAKE this book. They are fun, intriguing, lovable, and funny. Dickens does a great job writing a variety of characters. Since this is, simply put, a story about a man’s life, the life events felt realistic and balanced—I felt it matched life’s ebbs and flows. I was also impressed that so many aspects of this story are still relatable, even so many years later. There is some truth that the important things in life don’t change. 

• 

One thing I was both surprised and impressed by was Dickens’s inclusion and representation of characters with disabilities and mental illness. The way he wrote these characters was revolutionary, given the time period. His focus on their humanity, kindness, and unique gifts/insights is absolutely beautiful. 

• 

Finally, reading this story got me thinking  about what it would be like to write my own life story—Who would the “main characters” be? What events would be most noteworthy/worth including? Definitely something interesting to think about. 

• 

If you’ve been feeling intimidated by this one or have set it aside for later, I strongly encourage you to give it a try—even if you read it over a long period of time (it took me a month to get through). I’m so glad I was able to experience and enjoy this one prior to reading Demon Copperhead (which I am planning to read this fall)! 

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Check out what I'm reading next on Instagram @LeahsLitReview!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse

atamano's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Child death

Minor: Ableism and Animal death

emry23's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Death, and Misogyny

startjpw23's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This was an enjoyable, albeit very long, book. In most classic books I read, I don't usually like the characters. I am at best neutral about them. I read the books for the plots. In this book, I did like the characters. I cared what happened to them. This is probably because this book follows David from his birth to well into adulthood

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Classism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

melancholymegs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

Minor: Antisemitism, Colonisation, Dementia, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

emmaopaline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

Minor: Violence, Child abuse, Child death, and Death of parent