Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman

10 reviews

stacyaj's review

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Slavery, and Racism

casacacti's review

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

3.25

this was definitely an interesting concept, but a little gutsy for a debut imo. coleman definitely succeeded in putting me, a white australian, in the shoes of an aboriginal australian who lived through the colonisation / stolen generations of australia. there just wasnt a clear end goal for any of the characters except for jacky, and even when that goal was "achieved", there wasnt anything... new for him, even though the story continued on. 

coleman writes with very beautiful language, though at times the dialogue and the narrative feel disconnected. it almost sounded like someone else started writing it in the second half of the book. 

this is still a good debut; i think it just needed to be fleshed out a little more. i would have liked to have little hints of the origin of the settlers throughout the beginning of the book, just to keep readers intrigued, rather than surprising us with it half way through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Death

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, Violence, War, Death, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Genocide, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Vomit

dellydoos's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Simple but unexpected, Terra Nullius is a novel that presents a thought-provoking and timely commentary on Australia's colonial past and its ongoing legacy. It’s a story about Jacky, a native boy on the run from a government-sanctioned settlement, where he has been re-educated, tortured, and stripped of his identity. Now on the run, the only thing he’s looking for is home, a place whom he only knows the name of.

The first half of this book was straightforward, and if I’m being honest, a little slow. However, I think this is to the novel's strength. As a reader with little background of this book before I went in, I already had a preconceived idea about what the story would be about. And I’m glad to say my expectations were greatly subverted. Come the midway mark, right at the end of Chapter Nine, Coleman expertly delivers a subtle little twist. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment that genuinely had me rereading three times over to check I had read the passage right. And the power of this twist–wow, it was so small, and it hardly affected the plot at all; and yet it changed everything.

I found the second half to be so much more engaging than the first half. The setting was more interesting, and the stakes were even higher. However, despite its strengths, I found the book to be lacking in some areas. The pacing was uneven, and the world-building felt underdeveloped, leaving me with questions about the broader context of the story. Additonally, with so little time spent between so many characters I was left feeling some of them were underdeveloped.

However, this book still raises important questions about identity, belonging, and power. About the horrors of colonialism, of genocide and the erasure of culture. Coleman’s ability to humanise this experience is one of the book's greatest strengths, making it a valuable contribution to the ongoing dialogue about reconciliation and reparations in Australia. This book was both sad and painful, but definitely worth reading. 3.5/5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Torture, Child abuse, Genocide, and Child death

sharpreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Hate crime, Death, Racism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Colonisation, Torture, and Violence

sailortrash's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Colonisation, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, Slavery, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Genocide, Racism, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, and Confinement

solarpunkwitch's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death and Child abuse

lauradanby's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

An incredible text. As a teacher, I am so excited for my students to read this novel as it offers a new lens into Australian history and an interesting perspective on colonisation and the ideology that supports it. 

Also, massive plot twist! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, and Trafficking

balfies's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Murder, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Confinement, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Police brutality

Minor: Addiction

wherethebooksgo's review

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization