Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

29 reviews

qcupquake's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Orpheus Girl
4.75/5

- wow. just wow.
- MAJOR TW for homophobia and transphobia bc oh my god
- i went into this thinking it wasn't gonna be that bad but as a queer kid with religious truama, that hit HARD.
- although i'm not a lesbian, i could definitely relate raya's experiences with hiding and religion to my own experiences such as being afraid of fire and brimstone.
- very quick read (although i procrastinated a lot)
- definitely not for the faint of heart bc this is gut-wrenching

- i hope sarah and raya got to new york and found a new life. they deserve it

- something is stopping me from making this 5 stars but i don't know what
- overall an amazing and heartbreaking book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Transphobia, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Deadnaming, Abandonment, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

This was an extremely intriguing novel. It definitely delves into sensitive subject matter and deals with severe homophobia, so approach it with caution if that’s triggering for you, but it’s also eye opening and inspirational.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Torture, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Physical abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Deadnaming, Medical content, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Hate crime, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Cursing, and Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Child abuse

isco1428's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

1.25

This book felt way too fast paced for its own good. I think the book would have benefited tremendously from another 100-200 pages and a solid editor. The characters were almost a hit for me but we get so little time with the majority of them that they end up falling flat 99% of the time. There is also a very strange attempt at a redemption arc for one character and, in my opinion, it felt superficial. What is motivating and driving these characters? We’re meant to cheer them on purely on principle but what makes their stories any different than others? The characters end up feeling like an amalgamation of tropes with homogenized backgrounds. Overall, the book ends up feeling one note — like darting toward the finish line only to just…stop. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Biphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Ableism

innastholiel's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Car accident, Deadnaming, Abandonment, and Blood

Minor: Confinement, Outing, Self harm, Vomit, and Sexual content

eurydice_books_09's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

very good book! I read this because of the Greek mythology references and I’m not disappointed! this book is very deep and emotional though so big trigger warning on that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Torture, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Vomit, Transphobia, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Outing, Mental illness, and Lesbophobia

foxblood's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Vomit, Confinement, Sexual content, and Abandonment

sisters26's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

one of the most heartbreaking book I've ever had to read. 

A book about conversion therapy, that sentence alone tells you everything you need to know. It has really graphic lgbtq+ phobia and is definitely a painful (& heartbreaking) read. it may be a short novel but the impact it has is for me much longer. I think it shows very well the dark side of ignorance and how it can lead people to violence and hatred. Places like that shouldn't even exist, not only are these useless (sexuality and gender identity are not a choice) but they are really harmful, they can lead to people hurting themselves or far worse. That's also why I think this book is important because it clearly show without filters the harm that's caused by those places. We're talking about torturing teenagers for who they love or what they identify as. As heartbreaking as it is, I also sensed a bit of hopefulness from the characters that choose to support each other in those difficult condition. 

On the artistic level, I loved the writing style of the author and how she referenced the myth of Orpheus throughout the book with the metaphor of the wings. I saw people naming it as "annoying" but I liked it, because for me it represents the "personality" of the main character. They may have cut her wings but she never stopped trying to fly.

If you plan to read it PLEASE do check the trigger warnings beforehand because it's really a lot to take.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Self harm, Vomit, Abandonment, and Blood

amorg2013's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Physical abuse, Outing, Forced institutionalization, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Car accident and Abandonment

tahsintries's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Outing and Abandonment

starship_olympus's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.0

I just grabbed this from the LGBTQ+ section at my library because if there's anything to do with Orpheus and Eurydice in any form of media I'm there for it. 

But the writing style wasn't really for me, and I wasn't invested in the story. I almost DNF but I had a few hours free so I kinda just skimmed the book stopping to read every few pages. 
I can definitely see why this book could be loved by some, if it had been my cup of tea I would've been all over the prose, the characters, their differences and their love. I did want a 'happy' ending (as happy as an ending of this book could be)

and I am glad we got it, with the girls and some kids escaping the camp, and the camp (most likely?) being brought down

but the journey there wasn't for me. 

I know Orpheus is a tragedy, and there was tragedy here. It's not a book for the faint of heart, or an easy read. Even just skimming it I had an emotional reaction to what was going on. I think it could be a wonderful and visceral and beautiful novella. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Outing, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, and Bullying

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent