Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Summer That Melted Everything, by Tiffany McDaniel

7 reviews

abbruzzese's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

beautiful. heart-wrenching. elegantly written.

this book is like the temptation of the burning flame—impossible to turn away from; painful to the touch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Violence, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, and Death

Minor: Child abuse

scenic92's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Animal death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, and Violence

divafern's review against another edition

Absolutely maudlin. Without going too far into it, it tries to do too much. The writing is interesting in some places and yet liberally peppered with laughably bad metaphors and tired stereotypes. Just see the list of content warnings to get a feel for the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Outing, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Alcoholism, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Abandonment, Child death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality

rcampbell's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This is the second of Tiffany McDaniel's books that I have read, 'Betty' being one of my favourite books last year.

This has the same dark, other-worldly, southern gothic feel to it. The story follows one boy, his family and the rural town he grows up in over one summer. Lots of moral lessons regarding religion, the "devil" amongst us and what evil is, were heavy going and not the most subtle but thoroughly enjoyed the story telling and use of language. 

The setting is perfect and clearly one that McDaniels knows well. The heat and stiffling sense of the town was tangible, building as the tension in the story grew.

One reservation I have is in McDaniel's characterisation of the town's apparently only person with a disability as angry and bitter and being the 'evil villain' figure in the plot. This particular trope felt outdated and the book was written in 2016. Think this is a bit lazy and has the potential to perpetuate long-standing harmful trope of connecting disfigurement/disability with villainy. Or maybe this was the point....?!

I will look out for her future publications as I enjoy her use of setting, language and story telling and raced through this book in a couple of days. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

la_lela's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Miscarriage

sarahasyouwish's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This is the story of a man in an Appalachian town in Ohio printing an open invitation for the devil to come visit him and what happened when the devil accepted. You may (or may not) be surprised to find out that rather than the devil bringing evil with him, he simply exposed the evil that was already deeply rooted in that town. This is a literary novel with absolutely beautiful writing and characters who refuse to stay on the page. They absolutely come to life along with the sweltering heat in this novel, and they will most certainly burrow a place into your heart. I know they did for me. McDaniels is an amazing writer with a gift for telling eternal stories about small town people and the big world truths they live. She has quickly become an all-time favorite author of mine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Child death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Vomit, Rape, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

lorylor's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Miscarriage