Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Planetfall by Emma Newman

11 reviews

dejahentendu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective

4.0

This was a re-read of this book. I first read it several years ago. And then realized there were more books in this universe. I read those books earlier this year. I went back to this one in an effort to see if the others tied in here before it ended as I have the memory of... Well, something without a memory. They do not.

All that being said, this is a solid story with interesting intrigue,  some commentary on the nature of humanity, and a foray into faith. Not necessarily faith in any god, but just faith in the universe? Ourselves? Intuition? I like Ms. Newman's writing and I am looking forward to book 5.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

emmaloho's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

this book never fails to absolutely crush me. the building of the plot with both past memory and present mental illness is so well done, and the ending is incredible. both times I've read it now the kick off to the climax had me breathless, shoulders locked, jaw hung open, nauseated. the scifi world building is in my opinion masterful, both the human tech to the alien gods city. anyone who enjoys scifi should read this book

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

frogreads_'s review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was a very interesting book and had my attention in a firm grip. The premise was so interesting and honestly at the end i can say its so human. The best part of this book is the flawed main character. I would definitely recommend this book to others. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Death

Minor: Child death

one of the characters hoards really bad (see: "Hoarding: Buried alive") and it becomes a subplot

hanz's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Really liked this, however think the tension that was built up throughout was lost somewhat in the last section. Interested to see how the other books fit in to some of the unresolved mysteries. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder

valjeanval's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is exactly my kind of sci-fi. A quiet, slow burn mystery on a far-flung planet with an exceptionally unreliable narrator. I guessed some bits but thought the series of steady reveals was skillfully done as was the exploration of mental illness though check the trigger warnings on this one if you’re so inclined.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, Murder, and Pregnancy

teatunesandtales's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Oof. This was a heavy read. Exciting and action-packed, but very heavy and triggering topics. 

Wasn't too keen on the ending, but overall it was a very good book. 


TW: death, murder, suicidal ideation, child death, mental illness. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child death

avisreadsandreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, and Suicide

meduza's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Grief

samwardhaugh's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really enjoyed the world building - I feel like a lot of scifi tends to shy away from more biological style tech, and it gave a great lens into the gradually crumbling mental health of the main characters - the little hints of her house dying (the crack on the ceiling, the brown moss on the outside) gave you little tastes that something was going wrong.
It was also one of the better and more believable works centering mental illness I've read in a while; the line about the character feeling like a mosaic, that if you were far enough away she still looked like a person, is going to stick with me for a while.
BUT
As other reviews have said, the intention seemed to be for the ending to be left open and ambiguous but instead it felt more like the author took me on a long car trip to a cool sightseeing destination, pointing out interesting scenery as we went, and then 20 minutes before we were supposed to arrive, she took a dirt road as a 'shortcut', dropped me in front of an abandoned gas station, and went 'isn't this cool? anyway, have fun getting home!' and drove off. It left me feeling frustrated and abruptly abandoned, like I was missing out on something I'd been promised and was looking forward to and now instead I was going to have to figure out my own way home.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death

troisha's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Alcohol