Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

11 reviews

shieldbearer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

I can see why this book  didn't do it for a lot of people- the writing was experimental, the characters were almost caricactures. But that's the point, and there's a lot this novel has to say about the nature of history, of memory, and how the two entwine. 

If nothing else, this quote is the soul of the story: 
<quote> "Why do we not make the story more premium than life? It seems to me that we are making the story even inferior. We often make ourselves appear as though we are foolish people, and we make our voyage, which was an ennobled voyage, appear very normal and second rate. We could give your grandfather two arms, and could make him high-fidelity. We could give Brod what she deserves in the stead of what she gets. We could even find Augustine, Jonathan, and you could thank her, and Grandfather and I could embrace, and it could be perfect and beautiful, and funny, and usefully sad, as you say. We could even write your grandmother into your story. This is what you desire, yes? Which makes me think that perhaps we could write Grandfather into the story. Perhaps, and I am only uttering this, we could have him save your grandfather. He could be Augustine. August, perhaps. Or just Alex, if that is satisfactory to you. I do not think that there are any limits to how excellent we could make life seem.” </quote>

I have so many thoughts and feelings about this, and how it relates to the repeated urge of an audience to erode away the uncomfortable or sad aspects of literature- the "fan" response to Brokeback Mountain comes to mind. There is a lot of not so "premium" things in the novel, and this is the point the author is trying to make. 

My one real sticking point is the Romani girl. I truly feel as if she could have been handled better, especially as shes' the only Romani character in the novel, and the establishment that her family was abusive on top of that does put a bitter taste in my mouth, and not in the bracing way I got from the rest of the novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexism, Hate crime, Infidelity, Grief, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Genocide, and Cursing

Moderate: Excrement, Suicide, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

ashlynnoel's review

dark emotional funny sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Suicide

strange_abalone's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I do not understand the point of Jonathan’s grandfathers sexual exploits becoming such a focal point in the latter half of the book, it was so distracting from the deeper parts of the story that I have lost all interest in the parts I did enjoy in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, War, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

alyssatuininga's review

challenging 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? Yes

1.0

This book is absolutely horrible. Save your money and time and.read something else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, War, Sexual assault, and Violence

illgiveyouahint's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

The book is really hard to get into, but I was willing to give it a chance, however when the author started describing

how all the men in the village wanted to fuck the 14-year old girl

I started to really hate parts of the book. Then he continued with

talking at lengths about how all the women wanted to fuck that 10 year old boy with his dead arm

and just WTF man. Who wants to read that? Why would I want to read that, and why did you put so much focus on that. I think there were parts that were good. When we got to the topic of the war itself, it was good, but just I couldn't enjoy the book because of all of THAT. So yeah. In the end, I was pushing myself to finish it faster just so I can get it over with and focus on something more enjoyable.
I'm also questioning if I actually want the book at my home, or if I'll try to sell it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, War, Child death, Violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Antisemitism, Suicide, Rape, Infidelity, and Genocide

leilorenzo's review

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

There's one trigger warning after the next. They might not (always) be described in perfect detail, but they are there. I tried my best to include them all.

 

The back and forth narration (it took me an embarrassingly long time to notice the chapter title’s format, oops) was a great tool.  The characters were left vulnerable to the reader thanks to being vulnerable to each other in their correspondence. 

I found SO many gems throughout it that practically every page has some annotation.

It is a strong punch delivered so beautifully that you don’t realize it until the book's last third.

The use of language was crafted just right, entwining humour with tragedy, and laughter amidst the terror. 

It is now proudly resting on my favourite’s shelf.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, War, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, and Genocide

Minor: Vomit, Violence, Police brutality, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury

bieni2503's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

yaarit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a heartbreaking, beautifully written book. The form is playful and experimental at times, the character voices exquisitely developed, the plot and character development are really emotional and beautiful.

I would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for all the unnecessary pedophilia peppered through the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Torture, Hate crime, and Genocide

tea_t's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, and War

morgelynkensa's review

medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Murder, Sexual content, and Genocide

Moderate: Vomit, War, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Pedophilia