Reviews tagging 'Death'

Wellness by Nathan Hill

28 reviews

katiej's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

A deep look into the human condition and what it means to live in a society that is so hung up on what we see online. Wellness highlights how much we crave to be like everyone else and are obsessed with what everyone thinks about us but by doing this we are neglecting who we truly are and the real connections around us. Real life is hard and complicated, love and relationships are hard and complicated, parenting is hard and complicated but everyone is weathering the same storms but we are all in completely separate vessels.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Fire/Fire injury

e11en's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-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: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cancer

erikagibson126's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Classism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

2.0

The best part of this book was the ending for two reasons: 1) it was finally over and 2) it was truly the only part of the story I thought was well told. For the ray of the time, I kept wondering why this book was so damned long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

kcbatts's review against another edition

reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Grief

Moderate: Death and Infidelity

tiggerrd's review against another edition

emotional funny informative mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

naturallydeanna's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

The writing in this was so superb. I love reading about the nuances of people in relationships and Nathan Hill has this down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

caseythereader's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Thanks to AA Knopf for the free copy of this book.

 - WELLNESS is a book that is so sprawling and layered that I am having a hard time collecting my thoughts about it.
- Hill is such a master of slowly unspooling a story, giving us each piece of a character's life at the exact moment it's needed, which somehow makes a slow, character-based novel feel like a page turner.
- It's possibly I simply connect too deeply to this book, given that I'm someone who thought she'd be an artist of some kind who is now married in the suburbs...but I think even if you don't identify with that particular part of the story, there will be something in Jack and Elizabeth's lives that rings true to you.
- The more I think about this book, the more sure I am that I can't condense it into an Instagram caption. Consider this an open invitation to come chat with me about it if you've read it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts