Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro

7 reviews

knkoch's review

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

God, this was so good. I've been aching to read this every time I've shelved it for weeks. It cuts to the heart of its big questions: what do you do after something enormous, terrible, and irreversible happens? What do you do if you're responsible, and there's no way to take it back? How do you go on living, and build a life worth inhabiting amidst that? One of the characters muses, midway through, about the differences she sees amongst the families in their neighborhood: some have emerged unscathed and lucky, others scarred by challenging life events. 

I loved Dani Shapiro's writing style. It was so clear and sharp, with nothing extraneous. The beginning was a bit stronger than the ending, which dragged a little, but overall, this was strong and I'll be looking for Shapiro's other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

machenn's review

emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Grief, Car accident, and Alcohol

_caroline's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sarahflanders's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

serendipitysbooks's review

emotional reflective 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

4.0

 Signal Fires is the story of two families living in the same suburban street, whose lives intersect in sometimes surprising ways. It’s a book that spans several decades, albeit in a non-linear fashion, and with much of the action happening off page. As a reader I felt the blurb for this one was misleading. The car accident isn’t really the focus of the story at all. Certainly it had ramifications particularly the impact of secrets and things not spoken about, guilt and regret. However, I was expecting this to be more fleshed out. What really impacted me as a reader was the character of Waldo, his obvious giftedness, his sensitivity, his wonder at the universe, the way his father struggled to connect with him, and the bond he and Dr Wilf forged with each other. Kids like Waldo always grab a piece of my heart. I enjoyed the character studies of the others also. There was a strong philosophical, spiritual element to this book, almost magical realism, and that didn’t work so well for me. It felt heavy handed and not well-integrated with the plot, almost emotionally manipulative. To me it was unnecessary - the details already in the novel were strong enough for the reader reach the desired conclusion, to see the author’s message, on their own accord. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Dementia, and Car accident

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent

megankholley's review

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Dementia, and Car accident

julied's review

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, and Vomit