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unfortunatecircus's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Incest and Child abuse
Minor: Pedophilia, Excrement, and Eating disorder
inaczej's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Animal death, Sexual content, Grief, Sexual violence, Incest, Excrement, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Incestual undertonesjames1star's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Plot: not much to say here, it’s a character driven novel where little really happens. We’re following ten-year-old Jas via first person as she lives on a dairy farm in rural Netherlands with her family. Coming up to Christmas, Jas is worried her rabbit will be killed so wishes God take another… her oldest brother for example. This does occur after he drowns and what ensues is an exploration of grief on the family and her interactions with her younger sister Hanna and older brother Obbe.
Rijneveld does do a decent job at showing how grief takes over the lives of Jas’s parents with the mum becoming reserved, stops eating and increasingly suicidal. The dad turns very cold with both neglecting their remaining children to fend for themselves. This dark portrayal and decent into mental deterioration is very apparent and depicted relatively well. The writing is decent enough as well but as the book develops any positives became far outweighed by the negatives.
My main issue with this book is there’s just far too much grossness involved which become boring over time and just horrible to read. Rehashing depictions of bodily functions and products (snot, faeces, urine, bile, vomit, etc) are not only disgusting but I don’t understand why there’s so much of it. Reading about animal abuse and death are things I hate at the best of time but when there’s no justice served… nope!! I despise this so much, it’s a thing that attaches to me strongly and I can’t shift the feeling of disgust and anger. What’s worse is there are no consequences for these actions and it’s a terrible portrayal of such situations. A lot of the book also doesn’t make entire sense to me, specifically the interactions between Obbe and his sisters. He is a repulsive character in my opinion and the way he thinks and acts are really unfathomable that adds to my dislike of the book. In a similar vein, all the siblings don’t act in a way appropriate, it’s like Rijneveld put in all these horrific things over and over to impact the reader… but it just disgusts me. The family are part of a community with the children going to school so they’re not totally isolated which makes their actions more questionable. There’s a lot of hypocrisy prevalent as well, a note I picked up on was the anger the family feels to those culling the cows later in the book where they’re literally dairy farmers who abuse, exploit and eventually murders cows in the process… didn’t sit right with me there.
I might have more to say but don’t care to waste any more time on this book that I hated so yh. Read it if you want but I wouldn’t. Any messages and what Rijneveld wanted to achieve, for me they failed and I will not be reading their new book.
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Incest, Violence, Body horror, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Child death, Vomit, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Antisemitism
cholliworth's review
Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Excrement
Moderate: Incest, Child death, and Animal death
biggaywave's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Excrement, Gore, Incest, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Body horror, Mental illness, Suicide, Child death, and Death
sheryl_macca's review
- 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
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
- 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
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
syinhui's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Well, count on this book to give readers discomfort.
Jas is a unique kid with a hyperactive imagination. She's able to vividly conjure elaborate fantasies and relate the darkness of her thoughts to the mundane things around her - twisting objects, people, the animals in their farm and everyday occurences into a haunting reflection of her state of mind.
I am not one to shy away from dark themes. I could handle disturbing contents quite well so those aren't my main concerns (though I find the parts about bodily fluids the nastiest of all). Some would say it's gratuitous but I've read worse and while it covers a handful of taboos, it didn't delve much into it. A few sentences or a paragraph then it continues on to whatever bleak and imaginatively sordid ruminations Jas finds herself in. That's pretty much what the novel is about.
My issue here is that there's not much going on. No substantial plot or clear direction. Even the dialogues are sparse, often disjointed, cut short - never to be pursued again - which in fact fits the narrative but one I didn't really appreciate. It invites readers to immerse themselves in the depths of the character's mind but that's just about it. The use of similes and metaphors while at first brilliant becomes very tedious to read later on. After all, just how many grotesque comparisons for death and disintegration can there be until it loses its efficacy?
I would only recommend this book if you're seeking to read something specific: about a character that offers a uniquely morbid and unsettling perspective, particularly, one seen through the eyes of a young girl as she grapples with the tragic loss of a family member and the grief that follows.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Excrement, Incest, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Eating disorder, Vomit, Gaslighting, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Grief
Minor: Bullying and Pedophilia
l4r4777's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Don’t pick this up if you’re easily squeamish and uncomfortable with any of the content warnings associated with this book.
Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Antisemitism, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship