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contemporarymeepsie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really enjoyed this book. I already knew I loved the story as I had seen the movie long before reading the book. I find the characters very realistic and heartfelt, their struggles, plight and reactions to things that happen are believable and grounded in their previous experiences. This book really makes you think about what is right and what is wrong and how single choices can have grave consequences. My only issue that stopped it from being 5 stars is that the tense seems to change in every chapter, often starting the chapter in present tense and then by the end of it, it has flipped to past tense. I found that mildly annoying but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the whole book.
I would recommend this to anyone like me who likes a book to make you cry. I cried many times.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Blood, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Cancer, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Terminal illness
jodar's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
And yet… I found some of the plot a little too tidy in places, a bit too melodramatic. And at times the characters felt almost stereotypical and uncomplicated; the feeling that “this is exactly how this dramatis persona would think, speak and act ”.
Further, the male MC holds some grim, cynical philosophical attitudes to life:
A life had come and gone and nature had not paused a second for it. The machine of time and space grinds on, and people are fed through it like grist through the mill. (Chapter 10)
Years bleach away the sense of things until all that’s left is a bone-white past, stripped of feeling and significance. (Chapter 37)
Soon enough the days will close over their lives, the grass will grow over their graves, until their story is just an unvisited headstone. (Chapter 37)
And the authorial voice, too, comments of the society:
History is that which is agreed upon by mutual consent.
That is how life goes on – protected by the silence that anaesthetises shame. (Chapter 17)
So yes, it is a story of love and grief and of love reclaimed despite the loss and tragedy, but in the end it feels to me to be a story of ultimate despair.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Confinement, Vomit, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
sudsysbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, and War
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
hanngigi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and War
Minor: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
phantomgecko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Just a heartbreaking situation even though the solution was apparent.
I cried a fair bit at the end.
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
honeyenbee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
danajoy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and War
silverrose187's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
mysteriousokapi's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Miscarriage, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and War