Reviews tagging 'Death'

Wierzyliśmy jak nikt by Rebecca Makkai

131 reviews

carlytenille's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kharcourt's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Grief

summerofsoaps's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Hate crime and Sexual content

tomellibee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Hate crime, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

knkoch's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I found this really powerful and moving, if a little uneven at times. The two timelines (1980s and 2020s) didn't balance quite as smoothly for me as they did in something like Dan Kois' Vintage Contemporaries, both because there's a little less continuity in the characters present in both timelines and because I found Fiona's section (2020s) inherently less compelling. I appreciated the buildup throughout that helped her understand how her past had led her to her current crisis, but Yale's narrative in 1980s Chicago at the height of the AIDS crisis was so gripping and sharp that it felt like a bit of a comedown to return to Fiona's scenes in Paris. His gallery acquisition and relationship storylines had so much natural momentum, where Fiona's search for her daughter felt more muddled and slow-paced. I think so much of Fiona's story has to wait for Yale's story to deliver key details to make it clearer, and it suffers in the waiting. 

I suppose I'm also a little leery of stories about family estrangement told solely from the parent perspective. I was so curious to learn more from Fiona's daughter about her reasons for their estrangement. As painful as estrangement was for Fiona, I don't think she respected her daughter's privacy or wishes well. Estrangement often gets told this way, as a heartless choice by a troubled child, but I'd like to see more storytelling about estrangements that are quite different from that, the kind that can be necessary, protective, and very reasonable. Anyway, that's not what this was, that's fine, just part of a pattern. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Excrement, and Police brutality

abernathy_33's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Police brutality

Minor: Drug use, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

jblum4's review against another edition

4.5

Woof, that one was heavy. Well written, really delivers a gut punch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Homophobia and Terminal illness

rachelkreadsbookz's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Vomit

janellesparkles's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, and Grief

noura's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Terminal illness