Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

13 reviews

joelafond's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

Wow. Just wow. I devoured this book. I was engrossed by every single page. Masterful storytelling. Hilarious, heartbreaking, and deeply human. Can’t say enough good things about this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Hate crime, Homophobia, Death, and Drug abuse

caties_books's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Phenomenal! I never knew 900 pages could go so fast 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Infidelity, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Blood, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs

kjan318's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

My 1st 5/5 score book of 2023.
This book reminds me of another book, "A Little Life".
Another astonishing story that describes the life of the main character about 70 years long, it reasonably convinced me how we as humans could be influenced significantly and grow differently by culture, upbringing, and environment. the main takeaways for me after reading this book: 1. distinguish the "impossibility" and "reality", the front can toxicate you if you obsess on it, the latter can nourishing you 2. Don't Lie, be honest to yourself, your life and your surroundings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Torture, Child death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Violence, Death of parent, and Bullying

kersley's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

If a book made me cry during reading, it’s an instant 5 stars. What do I rate a book that made me ugly cry several times…

“The years apart will feel like nothing compared to what we have before us”

Also, it moved me a little to see my country being mentioned casually in the book (Mauritius) ♥️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Hate crime, Infidelity, Murder, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Grief, Cancer, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Medical content

lindseydunn's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

This book told such a beautiful story of a homosexual man through every part of his life. It was beautiful. It was tragic. It was hopeful. 

The beginning is very cataclysmic. From the pregnant 16 year old girl being called a whore and thrown out of a church by the priest to a father killing his own son for being gay. But you have to see all the hate and bigotry to appreciate the story of Cyril Avery and of Catherine Goggin. They are incredibly strong people. 

The epilogue destroyed me. It was probably the most tragically beautiful part of the whole book. But in it, Ireland has changed forever as we have known it and there is hope for the next generation.

The book is broke up into seven sections, each at a different place in Cyril Avery’s life. I loved this aspect of the book because you can see how, not only is Cyril changing, but also how Ireland is changing. 

CONTENT WARNINGS:
Homophobia, child prostitution, violence against homosexuals, violence, religious extremism, hate crime, religious bigotry, misogyny, suicidal thoughts/ideations, sexism, chronic illness, infidelity, chronic Illness, child abuse, child death, rape, sexual violence, police brutality, pedophilia, death of parent

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Homophobia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Violence, Police brutality, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

snwalsh's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

This book is amazing. I loved the voice, and even though I didn't really care about Cyril's life at first, he grew on me. Cyril is a flawed character, that hurts and gets hurt by others, but fundamentally he just wants to live a good life. I think the only thing that gives me pause about this book is all of the "coincidences". I feel like they were just gotcha moments that weren't well thought out, and were ways to bring characters together without having an organic way of putting them together. It felt very passive, and unbelievable, which seemed to be the opposite of the lessons that Cyril learned in his life (not being passive, working for what you want, being transparent, etc). Otherwise it's an incredible book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, Murder, Chronic illness, and Homophobia

Moderate: Dementia, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, and Terminal illness

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Dementia, Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence

litwithlaurenn's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, and Sexual assault

egg_cup's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

5.0

This book!!!!!!!!!!!! reduced me to a sobbing pile of tears and snot!!! Reminds me of A Little Life but far less sadistic and with a happier ending. Definitely a new fave

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Violence, Sexism, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Racial slurs, and Medical content

moiracampbell23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping