Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Afterlove by Tanya Byrne

22 reviews

em_of_swags's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book ripped my heart to pieces and glued it back together like five times. It was worth it though, loved it so much.

Something about it was also quite soothing, a love letter to life but still diving into death not needing to be so scary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Child death and Suicide

betris's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Drug abuse and Violence

karapillar's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

This book left me aching. I never wanted it to end. I smiled through so much of it, and I cried real tears more than once. The writing is unique but not annoying, and the story is tragically beautiful. The only complaint I have is that I didn’t read it earlier.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

alexballester's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

left me crying on the train 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Homophobia

dylanlouise's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was adorable. Such a cute and fluffy wlw romance with awesome discussion about life after death and sacrifices. I underlined A LOT. So glad I found this book :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Blood, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Terminal illness, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

soundlysmitten's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

While I was moved by some of the beautifully devastating sentiments in this novel, the plot didn’t feel as gripping as I imagined it would, and I feel conflicted writing this review. On the one hand, I think there are some issues involving structure and character development. On the other hand, knowing what the author set out to do, I think she accomplished her vision for this piece of work.

Although the premise is paranormal, the content is definitely more contemporary, and the pacing just seems off. The first half of the book is dedicated to the progression of Ash & Poppy’s short yet substantial relationship. The second half ruminates on Ash’s life as a reaper, but not many things of real importance happen, so the remainder of the story feels underwhelming. Also, some of Ash’s reactions feel pretty nonsensical. Even if dying and becoming a grim reaper is a just excuse for disorientation, none of the tension seems to hold much weight. Having a character freak everyone out cause apparently there’s some looming threat that never actually comes to pass or get explored in the slightest… that’s way too obvious a fabrication, in my opinion. As for the characters, Ash is the only one I cared about because she’s the only one I really got to know. The other reapers, Ash’s friend Adara, and even Poppy to be honest, all seem like they're just there for the sake of Ash’s story. But it's still an affecting tale, though.

Every time I read an own voices story about someone from another background, I am reminded of the common ground people of many cultures share. Although I am not Guyanese, I could very much relate to the difference between how people perceive Ash because of her heritage and the person she really is because of it. Some of her family interactions were also achingly familiar to me, but I found much more amusement in reading about the lighter clashes than dealing with them in real life 😹 While Afterlove is in part a cute story about first love, it also touches upon the struggles of teens coming out to parents they expect won’t love and embrace them for them, and feeling used by people they just want to love. Furthermore, it focuses on the experience of losing the ones you love in stages. Because of my own relationship with loss and grief, certain parts sat heavy on my chest. But it was the author’s Acknowledgments that actually made me cry, and I would beg you to read it if you pick up this book. Maybe even read it first…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

bee_interrupted's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This book was okay. The romance about love so strong it conquers death is cute and I liked the diversity of the characters, but overall the book lacked suspense.

It really is mainly a love story, so it doesn't have fantasy elements or dive into the afterlife which would have been more up my alley.

It does give hope though so it
might be a good read for people struggling with the question of what happens after we die, especially because it doesn’t push any specific religious beliefs, instead saying that
"everyone goes where they believe they are going”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

rockett's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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

5.0

Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read. The love story was beautiful and the way it was written was incredible. The plot flowed really well and while the difficulties of being queer were a part of the book, they didn't overshadow and ruin the romance as so many queer stories do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Racism, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, and Outing

matheo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Grief, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

luciajen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

The fact that lesbian is a word used throughout this book is so heartwarming. And the fact that lesbian is also used to promote this book, it is so very inspiring. It gives lesbians, especially brown lesbians, a chance to look at themselves as main characters that are so loveable. These characters while they end up dead, do end up having a happy ending which can be somewhat unseen in media when it comes to lesbians. They have happy endings that are relevant and appropriate for their situation. This book made me feel loved, sad, and seen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Car accident, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, and Grief