Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

11 reviews

jodar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Well-written and strangely absorbing, but what an odd mix of themes: semi-orphans abandoned to an incapable uncle; a frontier-like childhood; a nasty marriage with liquor-running adventures; wilderness solitude (more than once); a war story; a movie star; an adventure story of long-distance flight.

Scarcely an admirable character appears at all, except perhaps for secondary and tertiary characters. How to think of the MC, her twin brother and closest childhood-then-adult friend? Introverted, certainly, but none to me are attractive. All have their own obsessions (flying, art, wilderness) and seem to care only about their own selfish needs.

There’s sexual promiscuity by the main characters throughout, with barely any consideration for consequences to others. Steps to avoid pregnancy are detailed, but non-historical is the lack of any concern for venereal disease at a time of horrible and inadequate treatment. This ignorance doesn’t even make sense while the characters are young and isolated from society, as the prostitutes the MC befriends would surely be knowledgeable. It’s anachronistic behaviour till after the 1950s–1960s at least, when effective treatments became available and the ‘sexual revolution’ began to take off. The trope of non-heterosexual relationships as some sort of forbidden and secret enlightenment arises, of course; it’s seemingly unavoidable these days.

From time to time throughout the MC’s life and for sure at the end, the futility of existence and a resigned nihilism comes to the fore:

All the times she [the MC] has brushed against death, she’s never given much thought to what might come after. Now she considers it. She supposes there will be nothing. She supposes each of us destroys the world. We close our eyes and snuff out all that has existed, all that will ever be. (Final chapter, “The End”)

This is the malignancy that American individualism and its preoccupation with freedom looks like, I suppose, when it is untempered by a wider Christian concern towards others in society or a belief in the ultimate importance of our actions. I doubt this is what the author intends the reader to come away with, however.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abortion, Murder, Grief, and Infidelity

hayleyvem's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Gun violence, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Violence, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Rape, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

maryclaire92's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Reading this started as a marathon, but finished in a sprint! I enjoyed learning every little tidbit I could from every scrap of text about Marion. The switches in POV and time kept the story fresh and added to the momentum for me. I found myself the least interested in the modern actress Hadley who is portraying Marion in a film, but loved the way that she was tied in more meaningfully towards the end and couldn’t put the book down for the last 150 pages or so. 

If I’m being honest, it dragged at times for me, but that can also be attributed to me reading it towards the end of this semester of grad school. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Rape, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Homophobia, and Misogyny

awaterswadesthrough's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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: Abortion, Addiction, Pedophilia, Rape, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder, Grief, and War

anapthine's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, War, Death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, and Eating disorder

Minor: Murder, Antisemitism, and Gun violence

mirireads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Minor: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, and Medical content

prettycloud's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I kept catching myself wanting a movie of this book, even though I know book-movies are often disappointing, and indeed the book itself shows how much movies can miss. But this book is so visually beautiful, a delight for the mind's eye that draws from perspective characters' longings and aesthetic sensibilities to set its scenes. Though it is a long book, I never felt weighed down—when the plot doesn't move forward, the characters do, and this book is much about people's relationships to themselves and each other as it is about Graves attempting her "great circle." I liked the meditations on disappearance and death, on people's purpose in life and the interactions of chance and fate. This book has so much life in it, so much energy and realness and joy. And yet it also explores the legendary, and there is a pervading larger-than-life feeling even as we read about Marian's day-to-day life. It will be a while before I finish processing this one, because the questions it asks are woven so neatly into the story itself, but they're there. I guess, bottom-line, if you find yourself spending too long reading the Wikipedia articles of celebrities, this book might be for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, War, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Vomit, Abortion, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Stalking, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Child death, Body shaming, and Fire/Fire injury

About the adult/minor relationship:

Spoiler

There's a pretty extensive section where Marian is a teenager in a relationship with a gangster in his late twenties and early thirties. She loves and desires him, but he stalks, extorts, and rapes her as he becomes more desperate to make her into the woman he wants.

The main themes of the book have to do with death and grief, so that and suicide by extension are very present throughout the book, though the deaths that happen are seldom described in great detail.

campbelltoner's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Alcoholism

Minor: Murder

paolina's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Took me ages to get through this one. I was always engaged while reading it, but seldom felt like picking it back up again when I set it down for a while due to all the hardships the characters go through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, War, Infidelity, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

shannonsnell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy