Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

8 reviews

gracethebibliofeline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely heart-wrenching. The writing is beautiful, and the story is so emotional. Truly one of the most impactful modern novels, and at such an important time for bringing the refugee experience to light. I believe this should be considered a modern classic. Truly horrifying insight into the lives of those ravaged by war and instability, especially the mothers, their children and ordinary families, it confronts the reader with a reality we often detach ourselves from. Truly important to humanise the refugee plight further than just news reports. I was brought to tears by this novel. Amazing writing, my favourite novel of the year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Dementia

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

alicia03n09's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Child death

edward_eb's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I was really gripped by this book. Very pertinent to the terrible events happening all over the world today. And at its heart a book about family and love and the things people will do to keep what feels most familiar and safe, sometimes at a deadly cost. At points it was almost too sad and frustrating but absolutely worth the read and well crafted. It lends itself to audiobook very well too. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Torture, Police brutality, Dementia, and War

Minor: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

gvstyris's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

History is a silent record of people who could not leave, it is a record of those that did not have a choice, you cannot leave when you have nowhere to go and have not the means to go there, you cannot leave when your children cannot get a passport, cannot go when your feet are rooted in the earth and to leave means tearing off your feet.

Although Prophet Song is a somewhat unconvincing dystopia, it is undeniably a hauntingly relevant chronicle of the migrant crisis. Lynch successfully flips Western apathy on its head by depicting the gradual erosion of law and order in a totalitarian Ireland; an ambitious yet admirable premise.

I struggled a lot with Lynch's stylistic choices, particularly the absence of paragraph breaks. While the stream of consciousness creates the intended tone of claustrophobia and panic, it is difficult to digest and made reading this quite a slog. I was more successful with the audiobook, although I really can't understand why it has a male narrator...?

That being said, I also think it's important to acknowledge that this book probably wasn't intended for me. I'm honestly too young to relate to Eilish's sacrifice and love for her children, and found that I learned more (about the refugee crisis and writing dystopia respectively) from As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow and The Handmaid's Tale. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, Dementia, and War

Minor: Gun violence and Xenophobia

deanrossss's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

ronanmcd's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-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

Hans Fallada's Alone in Dublin
It's almost too much to read. It's affecting my sleep. It's affecting how I'm looking at my surroundings. 
I never take stock of prizes, but it's easy to see how this has been winning awards. You are in it. It's inescapable.
It's set in local places, Mount Temple, Joey's school, the promenade in Clontarf. And nothing happens for stretches, but real fear simmers. That's what makes it so powerful. It's believable. It captures so well the boiling frog metaphor. Changes come in and are accepted, however begrudgingly, until it's too late and everything has changed. It's not hard to see this happening around us, particularly as the Overton window has been shunted aside.
There are moments of clarity throughout, that leap from the text. Simon, Eilish's deteriorating father, points out none of this is new. There has always been a wing that will deny truth and facts, until they are irrelevant and unverifiable. Until you believe their lies, but even then truth comes back, as facts cannot be overruled.
And later Eilish's son, Mark, says fear attracts exactly what it is most afraid of.

But then...

The book changes when war comes. It becomes a story of a claustrophobic war in a small country. I read this as Israel bombarded Gaza, going far beyond a response to rocket attacks. And with politicians and members of the press cashing for Gaza's obliteration.  ll the while politicians in Ireland acquiesce to the far right and discuss the "immigration question'
We see what brings this migration about, what it's really like to be forced to leave your own place, why we do it, why we try not to. The book's aims are huge.
But it is exceedingly grim.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

kiwichill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Excrement, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

risemini's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War