Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

16 reviews

joyjoyjoy's review against another edition

5.0

This is a completely self-indulgent 5 star. No, I have no clue what was happening half the time. Yes, the phonetic accents were slightly distracting. Yes, a few too many celebrities were name-dropped. And yes, I cried buckets.

This is just totally my kind of book. Queer characters get to exist unapologetically, and the premise of the book is so exactly my thing that it's ridiculous. I still haven't found a way to process the ending, or what the hell was going on with Jasper, but I will. 

Anyway, Elf is my new hero and I want to play psychedelic folk-jazz-rock now. 

I would also like to note that this book takes place in the 60s, and as such the language used and viewpoints shown are definitely outdated sometimes. Take heed of the trigger warnings. Specific instances include a couple of mentions of the words "poof"/"queer"/"f*g" etc, some cultural appropriation of Native American imagery, and the use of the historically misogynistic and racist epithet directed against Indigenous women that I don't want to write out (it starts with 's'). The overall tone of the book is quite accepting and positive, but these things do come up. As for the representation of mental illness, I can't give a verdict on that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Police brutality, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, and War

marytylerr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death and Drug use

Minor: Racism

claire_builds_a_stair's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

blenchbooks's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Sadly I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped or as much as Mitchell's other books I've read. As someone who isn't super familiar with the music scene of the late 60s, a lot of the nods to people and places didn't add anything for me. I went through most of the novel waiting for a speculative or interesting element to come in and when it did it felt like almost a completely different book had been shoved in. This section also heavily references The Bone Clocks and I think would possibly be quite confusing for those who hadn't read it. 
I really wanted to love this book and there were some parts that I really enjoyed but sadly it just wasn't a win for me. 
I would recommend this book for fans of the 60s or those who lived through them and want some nostalgia but I would also recommend reading his last three books first as I think understanding the references does add something to this one. 
I will still 100% pick up Mitchell's next book and I hope I enjoy it more than this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Drug use

Moderate: Child death and Suicide attempt

versacrum's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Rape, and Police brutality

jomarchkinnie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, and Grief