Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

11 reviews

witcheep'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love how Zapata writes a love story here: it progresses very slow, evolving from a neutral working relationship to friendship and finally love. This gives time and space to really get to know the characters, and to let them both get emotionally comfortable and build trust around each other in a pace that feels real. I much prefer this kind of approach to insta-love that seems to be very (maybe too?) prominent in the romance genre.

However, at the beginning of the book, the pace feels a little too slow and as a reader I was just impatiently waiting for a more emotional section in the story to start. The later phases make up for the slow beginning with all the struggles to come to terms with the impact the awakened emotions have on the characters.

Besides the romance, the book gives weight to different types of relationships as well: there are work relationships, meaningful friendships, and familial strain. That is great, since it balances the plot to make the lives of the main characters more well rounded.

Both the main characters have very dark back stories (

they've experienced domestic violence and abandonment as children

), and that plays a role in who they are now; these experiences still have aftereffects. The dark pasts is something you'll want to keep in mind, if you don't want to read about certain subjects.

The past trauma feels quite dire, and it made me question if they both really needed that dark pasts; couldn't the issues have been addressed even if they affected the characters to a smaller degree? Now, I wondered if it was mostly just to create shock value to the characters.

The audiobook experience is great. I love when there are different narrators in the same chapters reading different characters' dialogue. It makes the listening experience feel more immersive and authentic compared to one narrator doing different voices. The narrators here work great for their roles!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Alcohol

idrilcelebrindal's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-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

2.25

This book was fine. Nothing special, and way too long. Main character had a lot of internalized misogyny that drove me crazy. When the love interest gets groped and she thinks it’s wildly funny it was so painful. Sexual assault/harassment isn’t okay just because it’s a man who is targeted.  

The handling of FASD (fetal alcohol) was incredibly bad. It should’ve been left out entirely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Abandonment

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse and Death of parent

nyquillll's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

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

0.5

This book was so hard to get through. I can't remember how I came across it exactly, but I was expecting it to be similar to other sports romance books I've read. This was completely different, but almost in a bad way. Or, I should say, the plot itself wasn't horrible, but the writing style was so not my jam. 

I got 6% into the book and realized it would be really really hard for me to read this book. My first impression was that it was full of long-winded, paragraphs of descriptions that were only sparingly sprinkled with dialogue. And a lot of the time, the long paragraphs weren't even on topic, they were tangential and seemed to run away from the starting point. I ended up skipping to around the 50% mark and then just deciding to majorly skim to see if at some point it would be worth it to force myself through it. It wasn't and it didn't happen. 

While I did finish the book, it was an uphill battle. The dialogue/descriptions didn't get better, and I also wasn't a huge fan of the tropes this book was trying to incorporate -

(possibly) golden retriever/black cat energy, stoic-man-who-never-expresses-how-he-truly-feels, will-they-won't-they, SLOW FUCKING BURN (this was torture), marriage of convenience (one of my firsts and might be a last too), touch-her-and-you-die (but it wasn't done convincingly)

. I also hated the fact that

they didn't even hug until the 90% mark or something?????? And then the author was like "Hey, let me add in a pretty graphic sex scene in the LAST moments of the book - THAT'LL make a gr8 love story." And no, it did not, for me. Also hated, hated, hated how she did have feelings for him and while theoretically we know he does too because it's a romance book, he literally behaved like a LOG around her - and he didn't even acknowledge her presence much before the whole arrangement.

ALSO ALSO ALSO DESPISED HOW SHE CONSTANTLY WAS COMMENTING ON HIS SIZE - "he's such a big guy," "he's massive," "he fills the whole room," etc. etc. (might not be completely accurate on phrasing, but you get the idea). 

I will say, I did appreciate the harder topics that were covered in this book, particularly toxic family dynamics, navigating family trauma, dealing with death of parents/parental figures, unlearning/deconstructing past coping mechanisms that are no longer serving you, allowing yourself to feel scared but to not get stuck in it - to let the fear flow through, how scary it can be to trust people to stay, finding the strength to cut people out of your life who don't deserve to be in it, and how scary it can be when life doesn't pan out how you planned it - but that doesn't mean it ends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gaslighting

Some quotes I highlighted:

"'I'm not going anywhere without you.' He squeezed, his words ringing through my ears. 'You're not alone.'"

"'I like your smile. That's all.' The big guy shot me a sour look. 'You make me feel like a Grinch.'"

"'I'm putting on my shoes, Mrs. Graves!' Idiot."

"I wasn't going to say no to the other half of my paperwork getting into my bed when I'd rather not be by myself."

"Me: <--Forever Alone--> Aiden: "

"'For everything. For not noticing. For not caring. For not making you feel like you could tell me things.' His voice was hoarse and just a little ragged."

"It's a long story." "I have time for you."

"My friend. The keeper of my secrets. My moral support. My paperwork."

"Everyone telling me I looked great recently only made me really self-conscious about what they used to think of me before. Did I look like shit?"

"The guy who had lost his favorite thing in the world and had let me force him into training for a marathon."

"He made a light noise, a tender one. 'That's my girl.' His girl? 'I am?' I just outright asked him, hoping more than a little he wasn't just...that was stupid, Aiden wouldn't just say that. 'The only one,' he said it like there was no other choice in the world."

"'That's my girl. That's my fucking girl.' 'What are you doing here?' I practically bawled into him. 'I missed you.' 'You what?' His arms tightened around me. 'I missed you very much.'"

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lanayagraham's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

Sweet romance with slow relationship development and character growth over a long period of time- my favorite! Minimal graphic sexual content at end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

maria8w4's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

sebradley29's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

delaina's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Deportation

sameeha_r05's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.8

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

elspethmigliore's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I would have really enjoyed this more if it hadn't been so long. I really did like the story, but the ending was not worth over 600 pages. I get it was a slow burn, but it was almost TOO slow of a burn for the tiniest bit of seeing them together  we got at the end of the book. The characters were great, but sometimes the main character was a little bit cringe and it bothered me. Overall, it was pretty good. 

would most likely reread, but not definitely ☑️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming and Mental illness

xxrosedarlingxx's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

3.0

4.5
Me ha encantado, pero hay dos cosas que no me han cuadrado.
La primera es como muchas cosas quedaban en nada, un ejemplo podria ser las inseguridades que tiene Vanessa con su cuerpo, las cuales nunca se solucionan o se hablan seriamente.
La otra cosa creo que recae más en gustos personales, porque a mi de verdad no me gustaba cuando eran muy obvias las intenciones de Aiden pero Vanessa no se daba cuenta, literalmente la habia besado segundos antes y ella seguía creyendo que era solo una amistad, lo cual se me hace muy tonta porque no es la primera vez que la autora lo hace y al final cansa.

Re-read 2013- 3.0



Go Aiden give us nothing.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Drug abuse