Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

11 reviews

eliza_enthralled's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

2.5

The lack of speech marks was super annoying. Why is this a thing? There were times where I couldn’t tell if a character was still speaking or just thinking/narrating which was jarring. The numerous terrible decisions made by the main characters were painful, but I suppose there would be no plot without this. The ending I wanted happened literally on the last page so overall I was just left feeling sad and frustrated, which were my feelings throughout the entire book, and I’m not into that. However, my hope for the two main characters kept me going and I found myself able to read it fairly quickly so it definitely wasn’t boring. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Cancer, Child death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Body shaming

Minor: Suicide

bellarosereads's review

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Cancer, and Grief

Moderate: Fatphobia, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism

farrahwho's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Eating disorder

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content

scewart's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

This is hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read. Talking at Night feels like the more emotional, complex, and poetic sibling to Love Rosie and Normal People. The story is such a spectacular journey through grief, self discovery, and ultimately love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

m_liz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Cancer

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Eating disorder

nim23's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Cancer

brynpemery's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Cancer, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol and Body shaming

reads_eats_explores's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

One cold November night, teenagers Will and Rosie meet while sitting around a bonfire, surrounded by their school friends, including Rosie’s twin brother and Will’s good friend, Josh. 

This is a story as old as time – the overprivileged, shy, straight-A girl who falls for the achingly handsome, wrong-sides-of-the-track bad boy. 

But maybe as we follow Will and Rosie on their ‘will they/won’t they’ journey, things will not be quite as they seem.

Talking at Night begins in a small Norfolk town in the 1990s and is split into three parts entitled ‘before’, ‘after’, and ‘long after’, and as the book unravels, we learn about the shared traumas that give reason behind these headings.

The book overall felt very YA in narrative style, and I suppose 20-year-old me would lap this up; 40-year-old me wanted a grittier read that I could really get my teeth into.

Saying that, I did enjoy the read and found it nostalgia inducing and highly immersive (a book to binge in one or two long lazy sittings) once I got over my initial irritation with Rosie, much preferring Wills's point of view and backstory. I'll certainly read more from this author in future; this is undoubtedly a solid debut. 3.5⭐

Many thanks to the author and publisher for this advance copy. As always, this is an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Addiction, Violence, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Vomit, Abandonment, Car accident, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcohol, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Death of parent, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

meg_anne719's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Mental illness

iolexx's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.25

“A essere sinceri è perché gli piace. La routine, o la calma. Il che significa che è da tempo che non sente il dire al cuore. Non sa cosa l’abbia fatto passare, esattamente. Se (..) o l’essere venuto a patti con le cose che ha fatto e le persone che se ne sono andate e il modo in cui il sole continua a sorgere, nonostante tutto.

Gli mancano certe cose. Certe persone. Sa però che è così che va la vita, e preferisce l’equilibrio, il riposo, poco eccitante e banale, e scopre che è tutto ciò che gli serviva. E burro buono, ovviamente. Un caffè decente. È stato cresciuto da una donna con delle priorità.

Ci sono cose che hanno senso, amici e risate e nutrimento, e altre cose che succedono e basta, perché è quella la vita senza tragedie, guidata dalla routine, più significativa”


Tragico, nostalgico e delicato, dolce ma con un retrogusto amaro che ti brucia lo stomaco. 
Ottima scrittura, piacevole, leggera e poetica, delicata come il modo in cui tratta i temi, ma dice molto più di quello che mostra. Comunque incredibile per un debutto.
Personaggi troppo stereotipati per essere al centro di un romanzo del genere che si basa principalmente su di loro e le loro vite. Hanno comunque tante sfumature, ma rimangono bad boy x good girl di cui la letteratura è satura.


È uno di quei libri che apprezzi più quando non stai leggendo. È bello il messaggio e l’intento ma un po’ noioso e inconcludente

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Eating disorder

Minor: Alcoholism