Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld

50 reviews

astridrv's review against another edition

Reading this book felt like watching Hard to be a god. Can't recommend it but don't regret it. And the author sure is a poet. All of the content warnings..

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Incest, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Excrement

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

barelyalex's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

5.0

Haunting. I think about this book often, there were parts that cut through me. Unabashedly real and important. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Eating disorder, Incest, Sexual assault, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, and Antisemitism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, and Self harm

ursa_arlo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Positives. Marieke Lucas Rijneveld is a master when it comes to the Dutch language. The writing style was wonderfully poetic and each new event layered onto each other to reveal new and hidden meanings. Example spoiler.

(Like the last plague, 'Darkness', leading Jas to the basement where she crawls into the freezer to be close to Mathias, which is also the day on which she is supposed to 'go to the other side' of the lake with Hanna.)

The book is also supremely uncomfortable; the things Jas does make sense through her reasoning and her innocent view of things which helps her cope with the death of her brother and the subsequent abuse she suffers. All in all, this is a beautiful book, not for the faint of heart, about the different ways in which grief can spiral and corrupt.

Negatives. This book is as Dutch as can be in its subject matter. The events described are unapologetically horrible and I do not find that appealing. While I could, to an extent, put myself in the shoes of this traumatized, reformist, farmer's family in the early 2000's, I greatly disliked the taboo subjects covered, the animal cruelty, the sexual and physical abuse, etc. You really need to have the stomach for it. 

Quote. "'Weet je," zeg ik terwijl ik mijn neus in haar haren duw die naar Zwitsal ruiken. "Ik wil wel groter worden maar niet dat mijn armen mee groeien. Nu pas jij er precise in.' Hannah is even stil en zegt dan: 'Als ze te groot worden, sla ik ze net als mijn wintersjaal gewoon twee keer om mij heen." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Child death, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Animal death, Child abuse, Excrement, Death, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Abortion and Antisemitism

vickigro's review

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Grief

w0rldofab00kw0rm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Suicide

inaczej's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Child abuse, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Vomit, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Rape

msmagoo502's review

challenging dark funny hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This book was challenging and triggering. It was also written very well and it really takes you into the mind of being around the age of the character but some of the things were just incredibly difficult and terrible to go through and it's very sad the life they live full stop I'm having a struggle inside to decide what did I just read? Did I like what I just read? Was it in fact good? And My outcome is yes it's a good book technically. But it's dark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Animal death, Sexual content, Grief, Sexual violence, Incest, Excrement, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Incestual undertones

sheryl_macca's review

challenging dark emotional slow-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

This one is disturbing and uncomfortable to read but it's written so beautifully that it becomes palatable, enjoyable even. Not for the feint of heart but so poignant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Vomit, Excrement, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Suicide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Grief

bomenvernietiger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Disgusting. <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Incest, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Excrement

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Medical content, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Body shaming, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Vomit

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 The Discomfort of Evening won the International Booker in 2020. When Jas is ten her older brother drowns in an ice-skating accident. Grief causes her family to unravel and Jas also has to deal with feeling responsible for his death. There’s a big focus on bodily functions, animal cruelty and death, violence, emotional abuse, plus self-harming sexual behaviour. Additionally the family belongs to a harsh punitive Christian sect and these beliefs added an additional level of darkness and judgement to the novel. Certainly there is little evidence of love or communication. While I can appreciate the role these factors play in the plot and in illustrating the book’s themes they are not things that I enjoy reading about. So objectively a good book, just not one suited to my reading tastes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Child death