Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

12 reviews

buckydotson's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny sad tense 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

5.0

this made me cry like 3 separate times. everyone is flawed but they do just all love each other so much 🥺

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Homophobia, and Death of parent

joensign's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Police brutality, and Torture

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, and Infidelity

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

peanutparker's review

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Death, Violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Murder, War, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Cancer, Dementia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Kidnapping

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

shel_bay11's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Child death, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Trafficking, War, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Cancer, Dementia, and Incest

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

saestrah's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

5.0

Having this book on my TBR list for long enough that I forgot what the book was about, I almost stopped reading this after the end of the first part. To avoid spoilers, it wasn't subject matter I was particularly in the mood to read and it was just before going to bed. But I loved the narration from the first page so I picked it up again over breakfast and couldn't put it down. After staying up until four in the morning to finish it, and writing this after five hours of sleep, I still don't regret my decision.

The Heart's Invisible Furies is incredibly moving, with each chapter narrating Cycil's life in seven year increments. Despite the hardship of his life, from growing up gay in Ireland in the 40s to the AIDs pandemic in the 80s, Cycil's narration is incredibly funny. Often blinded by his own emotions, it's easy to get swept up in his struggles through relationships and identity, that when revelations come to life I was as shocked as he was. The plot had predictable moments with threads of coincidences too good to be true weaving throughout the story, but it's something that doesn't deminish how much I loved this book.

If you can give yourself enough time to read this book in one sitting, I fully recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

brynngaybee's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

I read this on the recommendation of my manager who said it was her favorite book and I had to read it, while I am not quite sure it lived up to the hype I certainly enjoyed it a lot! I didn't care that much about the childhood parts but they were mostly funny enough. I liked a lot of the adult stuff more, although the characters drove me crazy sometimes. It was very sad but some other parts of the book were funny. My manager said it was similar to A Little Life which I have not read yet, but still may be a good option for fans of that book. There is a lot of coincidences and quite a bit of death and wild events going on. I am here for the drama, but it may not be for everyone. The way all the characters were interconnected was interesting to me, but it did not seem very realistic, depends on what you care about in a story I suppose. Overall, very well written and emotional. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Dementia, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

theelliad's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death, Cursing, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Dementia