Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

8 reviews

shaleen64's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

An easy and beautiful read about the love of books, the love of people and what really matters in life. It will make you laugh, cry and hope. 

There are also some unexpected twists/plot lines. A brilliant choice in any instance but perfect if you’re in a reading slump.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

Gabrielle Zevin excels at constructing expansive novels that somehow still feel cozy and slice-of-life with characters that feel more like fact than fiction, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is no exception. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use and Police brutality

marleennieke's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism

haleiyoung's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.25

This was an amazing book! The characters made me feel all kinds of emotions and the setting was so charming. AJ starts out as a brash man, but evolves into a softer version of his opinionated, unsentimental self. There are complicated relationships, second chance love stories in the background and a twist you may or may not see coming. 
Some characters are irredeemable, which this book definitely has in my opinion, but there are characters who make huge mistakes and you can't help but feel for their situation, which this book also has (and just to make it clear, those who are irredeemable are not those I feel for because

screw cheating bastards).
My one critique would be about the number of parentheses and information dumping the author chose to keep in during the first few chapters. As the book progressed the words came much smoother, but in the beginning I felt like I was being bogged with a bunch of need to know information but presented in an ineloquent fashion.

Now here's a part with a spoiler

But I love the adoption trope in this book. Although I HATE when books or movies portray someone dumping their child onto an unwilling party, the way AJ accepts Maya into his home and loves her like he would his own daughter, and then Amelia doing the same when they get married is beautiful. I was adopted, and seeing it portrayed in such a way that sees AJ being seen as the legitimate dad and Amelia as the legitimate mom and not just the "adoptive parents" makes me heart so happy. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism and Car accident

Nothing is explained in explicit detail. There is some insinuation to sex, but nothing descriptive. Racism- there is a brief insensitive remark made to the main character and family Miscarriage and infertility- nothing explicit, but talk around it is fairly un-emotive and swept aside toxic relationship- not the main character's relationship, but his sister-in-laws Car accident- nothing graphic, but results in death

mrslsmith's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Car accident

blewballoon's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

This was a really good story, definitely one of those types of books that is written for people who love being around books. There were a lot more plots and characters than I expected, and I think they all were given just enough time, but maybe could have had more? I wasn't as emotionally impacted by the emotional parts, but based on the tone of the book I'm not sure I was really supposed to be. The book felt more about the general ups, downs, and surprises of life in a way that I don't think was meant to be super heavy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism, Racism, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

morganperks's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Racism, Vomit, and Alcohol

catladyreads's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Racism