Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Wellness by Nathan Hill

21 reviews

cats33's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Well written but not my style of book by any means. Felt like it was a memory quiz by going on many rangers but eventually circling back to what it is referencing or connecting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

michelleka's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent

taylorfield's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Long Story Short: It’s 2014, and Jack and Elizabeth have been together since they met in college twenty years ago. As the two juggle parenting, careers, and building their forever home, they struggle with an unthinkable question - are they right for one another? 

Wellness is an exploration of how childhood experiences shape the lives of young adults, how people shift into new versions of themselves as priorities change, and what happens when people just don’t know how to communicate with each other. Nathan Hill has pretty brilliantly crafted a group of characters in a place and time where this kind of story works perfectly - spanning decades of memories, trauma, and best efforts. It manages to be sad, funny, derisive, and touching all at the same time. 

I’ll echo the thoughts of others that a good editor would have had a go at the long-winded, often technical ramblings, which at times feel long just for the sake of being long (the discussion of algorithms and a certain funeral come to mind). With a 9-page bibliography, Wellness is obviously well-researched, but it certainly didn’t *have* to be almost 700 pages. (On that note, one of my favorite quotes is from the bibliography: “This book had many such deep dives.”) Towards the end there were some “coincidences” that felt a bit too on the nose, and this is not a cast of “likable” characters by any means, but overall I can see why it’s so popular. 

I waited 10 weeks after putting this on hold, then another 6 weeks for a second hold when I was only halfway through after my first borrow and couldn’t renew, and I think it says a lot that I was able to pick right back up where I left off, minus a few small details such as Toby’s age. 

Enjoyment: 4/5

Craft: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

jamie_rich's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

aileron's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death and Self harm

thatbethguy's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

A beautiful exploration of the stories we tell ourselves and how that shapes the ways in which we experience our lives. It was just a little too long for me with some unnecessary or over-explained elements.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

cyanlizc's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.5

It's been more than a month since I read this book and I still think about it. I think about his art, his sister, his dad, her job, her, him, all of them. I loved when it was set and watching things unfold. One thing I really appreciated was both him and her worked on their own stuff separately and independently. They were completely their own people and it was awesome to see such developed, complex, human characters. Also, I just loved everything they were thinking about and going through and ugh such good topics.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Toxic friendship

bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Great exploration of humans, couples, and how each person's baggage doesn't just go away magically. 
Definitely had me reflecting a lot about my own life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion

ukponge's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity