Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

28 reviews

rhi_'s review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: War

silverkoshka's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

The ending seemed rushed. 

i would have liked to see Opaline actively hunt for the book that her father had given her rather than just coming into her possession by a stroke of luck.
Id have liked to see an elaborate plan at the end rather than something that just is closed in a single chapter.
I wasnt particularly interested in the romance but it would have been nice to get to know q little more about josef.

Other than these the book was absolutely gripping and unputdownable. I was strongly tempted to take a day off work just so that I could finish the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Considering what a dud my last read was, this one could only be given a full five stars. I normally dislike parallel timelines telling two stories back and forth. This time, it felt less linear and more circular. I was yelling angered, saddened, shocked, elated, hopeful, satisfied, curious, cheerful, and so many other feelings all throughout the book. There are so open questions, but the book felt so good to finish that none of those questions actually need answers for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

megankriegel's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Domestic abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and War

pasteldaydream's review

emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

A very intriguing story that isn't my usual go-to for books. While sometimes the characters felt flat, I did  find myself needing to keep turning the page to see what happened to them. The mystery and magic of the bookshop and the search for the lost manuscript definitely keeps the reader hooked to see how the past, present and future are all connected.

Of the three POVs used, I felt the most drawn to Opaline's storyline. I felt she was more a ctive in her own story vs. Martha and Henry. In fact, I would go so far as to say Henry's POV wasn't needed at all. I fully admit to sometimes skimming through his just to get back to Opaline and Martha.

Martha did feel somewhat passive at times though. She often had to be pushed by those around to do anything for herself -- the reading, going to school, dealing with Shane, etc. None of those choices really felt like they were truly Martha's decisions, just choices she was kind of pushed to do by those around her (Madame Bowden in particular). In contrast, you hav Opaline, who does have her flaws  too, but also managed to run away to Paris with no money,  escaped an asylum on her own and confronted her brother.

When it comes to Henry, again, I don't think his POV really added to the story. The entire subplot of him being engaged and becoming an uncle just didn't seem to fit the rest of the story. Maybe because he is not tied to the bookshop in the same way Opaline and Martha are. Often it felt as though Martha was his manic pixie dream girl -- existing only to make him feel better about his dull life.

I would have loved to see Martha take a more active role in her own story, maybe finding the bookshop on her own and Henry coming in as a platonic friend and having a slow romance build between them (did he even have to be engaged at all? I truly hated that aspect of his story.)

Henry just didn't feel as inspiring as Opaline and Martha. His POVs certainly helped us see Martha, but also we could have gotten that from her POVs, too, especially if she took a more active role in changing the circumstances she found herself in.

All that said, I did love how the present mirrored the past. I loved finding out Opaline and Martha were connected and Madame Bowden...listen, she is the real hero of this book.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Grief

clariceyj's review

challenging emotional mysterious slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Miscarriage

ah_nailse's review

adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I honestly love the concept of this book. Really do. But it just felt poorly executed. The writing style felt a little juvenile, cliche, and not very mature. The characters were poorly developed, there were so many scenes and characters that offered nothing to the plot, and the author was trying too hard to throw in wise one-liners, but that got annoying. There were also a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes??? I feel like a better editor would have been able to help with that, tie together some of the plot inconsistencies throughout the book and give the characters a stronger voice. Woods poorly handled a lot of touchy subjects (domestic abuse, war trauma, etc) and I want to love this book and I can’t.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, and War

emily_beth's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

Beautiful. Magical. I LOVED reading this book. I got goosebumps reading the very magical moments. I felt lost when I finished it. I wish I could read it for the first time again.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War

dallizzle's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and War

earthie's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed the book overall, but ended up feeling more disappointed by the level of focus on romance across all people and then the parts of it that mixed between reality and not felt like it was more of wishing for a proper ending rather than something that perfectly fit together. It felt more unfortunately forced.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Abandonment, and War