Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

58 reviews

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.

nadijya's review against another edition

Toooo slow and the book could've been shorter

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sarawildoosen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Grief

pumpkinmasterug's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

3.75

Not the best novel I’ve read, but definitely not the worst. It presents grief through a range of perspectives and is definitely dark and uncomfortable at several points. I enjoyed majority of the book, however

the possession scene spoiled the tone of it all for me, especially since the argument for Susie sleeping with her crush instead of tracking down her killer is her reclaiming what was taken from her during her murder, but after she hopes her father dies to be in heaven with her TWICE she let’s her family suffer in grief when she could’ve caught her killer or unveiled the location of her body and helped them. Of course that would’ve been very cliche so I understand why Seabold avoided this, but it just made Susie come across very selfish and quite unlikeable.

It’s a bit corny in some places and I don’t think the writing style will suit everyone, and some of the characters are so flat and predictable they read more like AI trying to blend in than actual human beings, but I honestly didn’t mind that too much in this case. Overall though, it’s a good read with a hopeful message and I did enjoy it for the most part.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol

ltux's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Alcohol

elektra_xo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

Couldn't put it down!!! Very emotional and dark. Love that it has a 'true crime feel' to it. I could read this over and over 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

serein42's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Violence and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death