Reviews tagging 'War'

The Perishing by Natashia Deón

3 reviews

nehaanna's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I’m not entirely sure what this book is attempting to accomplish. This is literary fiction with a speculative aspect and a fantasy-esque twist that fails to make any sense until the last 50 pages and is so poorly strung together. This book fails to draw the reader in, preferring to use complicated time jumps, stream of consciousness type writing, and sloppy philosophical waxing to make some point. Sprinkled along the way are references to historical injustices towards minority populations with reference to recent historical events of the 2020s. However, the social commentary is poorly done in my opinion. Nothing in this book seems to be executed well, everything falls abysmally short of the author’s well-meaning intentions for what this book could have been. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lovealwaysadi's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Slavery, Medical content, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

oatmilkdyke's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

A book that explores many lives and the way our souls experience time. I loved the author's imagery and beautiful use of language. The story was reflective, and relevant to the time we are living now (with subtle references to COVID-19). I had trouble focusing and piecing some parts of the story together, especially with the climax. Definitely want to re-read to fully grasp this story! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and War