Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

108 reviews

czoltak's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

hue's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Lovely, but so very sad. It was interesting to follow Susie's pov even if she was already dead when the story started. The people around her and her death were intensely interesting, and felt so very real. So human.

Must say that I was boiling over when Mr Harvey got away even after everyone knew it was him who'd killed Susie, and hurt so many more. I wish I could've strangled him, or that someone in the story would've done so. Alas. Sometimes there is no satisfying conclusion, no proper justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I saw the movie years ago and remember it differently than the book. So some of the content was surprising to me. I’m undecided on how I feel about these differences.i think I liked the movie better than the book because the movie was more dramatic and had actual resolution. The book is satisfying in a different way, and in some ways, more realistic in that when people die, the rest of us still need to find a way to keep living.

I thought the writing was strong, but I’m conflicted on the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Susie Salmon is tragically murdered as a teenager, but goes on to watch her family, and their grief and healing, from beyond the grave.

This one is the next installment in my “Project DNF” (a goal to finish all the books I’ve DNFed at other points in my life) and I’m really glad I picked it back up. 95% of this book was really beautiful and poignant, as well as really sad. I thought it was touching if a bit morose, and found myself really invested in the characters. In particular, I enjoyed seeing how the ripple effects of a death like this can impact so many people involved, even beyond immediate family members and close friends.

That said, I felt like the last few chapters represented a dramatic shift in tone and substance, and I really did not like the note the book ended on. It felt like we were building towards a certain type of story for the bulk of the novel, only to be thrown some weird curveballs at the end. This is, in large part, a book about closure—but unfortunately, it offers very little of that to the reader.

If you can handle really sad stories and want to read an interesting reflection on grief, this might be for you, but I truly wish it had gone a different way at the end.

CW: Death/child death; sexual assault/rape; violence; grief; infidelity

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder

agosto111's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad 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

5.0

I love this book so much!! WARNING RAPE AND A LOT OF REALLY TRAUMATIZING THINGS. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

This is an amazing book but please be careful this book is really triggering and sad so read with caution

scarlett_f's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Full of triggers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy

May be triggers for some: rape, sexual assault, murder.

the_council's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, and Murder

sillydylly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

This book is intense, graphic and hard to read. With that being said, it is very well written and interesting. The character development is heart aching and raw and sad. Good read but its a hard one for real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Murder

bee_reads1885's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder

carlytenille's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Alcohol