Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

21 reviews

rhiannonhoward's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

I picked up this book because the name was familiar and I saw that it had been adapted for Netflix (but my eyes are bad and I didn't feel up to watching TV). I went in having no idea what it was about and wow.. what a trip.

This tells a story set in suburban Queensland, Australia in the 70s-90s (a time that coincides with my own formative years). One of the main themes is focusing on detail and the way the author depicts this childhood brings back a huge number of sense-memories for me. Stubbies shorts, Burger Rings packets, sticky vinyl car seats, heat haze on bitumen roads, eating pineapple rings from Golden Circle cans...  spelling words upside down on calculators, rats-tail haircuts, Ninja Turtles Tshirts and school bags with band names written all over them, and even the brand of cheap plastic pens and the names of the supermarkets, had my brain buzzing with resonance.... less so with the gangs and criminals, thankfully.

Apparently, according to the notes at the back, this book is semi-autobiographical. The language used is no holds barred and rich with Australian profanity. If I had a buck for every time a child swears and then is told off by a swearing adult I'd have enough to buy pizza tonight. I guess given that parts of this book are more than 40 years ago this is almost "historical fiction" which is hammered home by the complete lack of cellphones, specific cameras and torches, and the telephones are for.. yknow, calling people? Not to mention that people still rely on actual Newspapers. Old school.

As a story about growing up with unable parents and in traumatic circumstances, there are parts of the story that are delivered unreliably. The main point of view is from a traumatised boy and his older brother who is mute. There are dreams, visions and prophecies that I am always a sucker for. The story is told poetically with key lines that repeat. The action is tense and at times unhinged, telling of connection, redemption, mental illness, morality and garden variety pain.

I really enjoyed this book. It was the sort of story that I wanted to put down at times, and just sit with and think over. Lots of weird stuff happened, and the unpredictability and predictability walked hand in hand down a content warning list as long as my arm.  Parts of it were utterly grotesque and parts of it were trippy, and all up it was satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Classism, Alcohol, Car accident, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Dementia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Racism

kayleejanes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Drug use, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Car accident, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Bullying, and Torture

kiwichill's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A tragic but funny book about growing up in a chaotic household where there is alcohol and drug addiction and domestic violence.  Parents are friends with ex criminals.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Drug use, Bullying, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Gun violence, Trafficking, Drug abuse, and Excrement

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Car accident, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Torture, and Misogyny

juju_432's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

Boy indeed swallows universe 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, and Toxic relationship

bbbreads's review

adventurous challenging funny sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

mother_of_theo's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The start of the book is a bit slow, the story picks up at about page 150 and is well worth the read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Violence

aliengirlreads's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

the greatest book i have ever read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Physical abuse, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Drug abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Car accident, and Medical content

Minor: Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, Child abuse, and Mental illness

miranda_coward03's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

There's something about Trent Dalton's writing that transports you to a different time and place. I have spent hours lost in the world of Eli Bell and I felt heartbroken leaving it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Toxic relationship, Gore, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders

worldthroughcurls's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Drug abuse