Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Der Papierpalast by Miranda Cowley Heller

8 reviews

imds's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Death of parent

velmad's review against another edition

4.5

I really liked this book. 

Very surprisingly , the main characters experiences with family mirror a lot of mine, right from the grandmother to the mother . 

The generational trauma resolved itself slightly with every generation but it was still very apparent that this is a very troubled family line. 

The author , still have a pass more than I think she should have to Elle's mother.  She wasn’t a good mother .  She was neglectful and selfish and narcissistic.  She allowed her men to abuse her daughters emotionally and put her daughters in harms way. It still sounded a bit like her mom was a wonderful person but maybe , true to my life , that next generation will come out even cleaner than Elle and Anna. 

I can see how she ended up having an affair.  I don’t like it but I see how it happened . 

Most definitely this was a difficult read to get through but it was very well wrote. 

The only marks I took off were because I often couldn’t keep track of the characters and jumping back and forth was done differently than I had ever read before.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

jessiehg's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

In a lot of ways it’s great
- the time cuts exploring a similar theme across generations are so close to being too obvious and trite, but there’s enough complexity and difference that they work well
- the characters verge on 1 dimensional, but they’re also not overwritten which I’m grateful for
- Elle’s motivations and the deep rippling effects of her childhood on her choices are very well done, as is the reasoning (absolution) behind the affair finally occurring
- the end will bother some, but I think it was the only option 
- I saw most things coming, but you could take that as well constricted and neat rather than obvious

There’s something here about starting in a simplistic idea of lifelong longing finally acted upon, and then simultaneously strengthening the reader’s belief in that “cosmic connection” and (through an unreliable narrator) revealing flags of the flawed, bad (but not in the way they think they are!) people who would in reality not ride off into the sunset but likely hurt each other like all partners do. Jonas is a dick to his wife, Elle is obviously coping with her mistakes and explores those things (eg lying, distance to husband). 

Once I hit about halfway I found it difficult to put down. I was deeply affected. But I didn’t LOVE it. 

This may be better on screen than on paper - what verges on flat in the book could be fleshed out with great acting.

It helped me to keep reminding myself that this is my parent’s generation, and in a lot of ways her reactions are very well written for that.

Starting this book in the affair and love triangle is indicative of the target audience. The average airport/rom com reader wants empty longing and sex as a hook to then become invested in the real story. Personally, the real story is what it took for me to give any amount of shits about the affair. An understandable and commercially wise choice, but not to my liking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty and Terminal illness

lbh_0327's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

skibbonboulash's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

Let’s make the main characters childhood as traumatizing as possible then have a climax that is meaningless because you’re numb to trauma by then and then finish off with an underwhelming resolution and conclusion. You can tell the author writes for HBO (not a compliment)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

thoreaus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, and Alcohol

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

It took me about 50 pages to get into this book, but then I couldn't put it down.  I loved it and feel like this place and characters are old friends.

This book may not be for everyone.  The non-linear storyline can be confusing.  I'm not sure it would work as an audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

coralie_michon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

je me suis lancée dans cette lecture en pensant lire une typique histoire de triangle amoureux, d'une femme qui doit choisir entre les deux hommes les plus importants de sa vie. toutefois, ce livre est beaucoup plus qu'un simple dilemme amoureux. il raconte une histoire tragique d'une famille brisée, d'une amitié difficile, de regrets infranchissables, de choix impossibles. il s'agit d'un livre totalement cru, vrai. les descriptions d'heller mettent en vie le roman d'une manière si forte, si réelle et puissante. les mots qu'elle utilisent sont parfaitement sélectionnés pour nous faire vivre une panoplie d'émotions. il est rare que je lis un roman du point de vue d'un adulte, encore loin une mère de 3 enfants, mais je ne suis aucunement déçue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Grief

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Vomit