Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

174 reviews

hmoring's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-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

4.75

Very charming and very odd book. It covers so many important topics without really being about one topic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Drug use and Self harm

fri3d_kai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book kinda hurt my soul and I almost cried on the tube, but I couldn't put it down so...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

oeunoia's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

This is a really moving book, and there are many ideas and insights that when read felt like Ozeki had crystallised amorphous scattered thoughts and feelings I only vaguely knew I had. She also describes one of the character’s grieving process in a way I found really relatable, she describes it with a lot of compassion which felt good to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm and Death of parent

zoinkie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

al_excellent's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

ojudson39's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Self harm

jenjennijennifer's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Strange like Ozeki’s other books I’ve read, but has a theme of parent-child understanding I appreciated. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

Difficulty in a mother son relationship.

where the son is almost taken from the mother

trvreooo's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.0

The prose of this book is definitely the highlight. Ozeki does so much interesting voicing and writing. The way she articulates the thoughts of different characters is masterful. The articulation of grief is downright hard to read at times, usually in a good way. Handling of difficult subject matter was not always my favorite, but not awful. I felt like the end was a bit abrupt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Sexual assault

alyal's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I ❤️ Ruth Ozeki! If you liked this book, you should read her other book A Tale for the Time Being. That's what got me into her books. 

I've been wanting to read her other books for years and I finally had access to this one and I'm happy but I want to read her other ones too!

This book is about a boy and his mother grieving the death of their loved one (his father, her husband). They both find different outlets for their grief and find ways to continue to grow even as they grieve.

It's very profound but isn't pretentious or obnoxious, which is Ruth's specialty. She always manages to tackle really depressing subjects in a hopeful way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming and Bullying

Minor: Self harm, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Murder, and Toxic friendship

withlivjones's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.75

Every time I thought it couldn’t get any worse for this poor boy and his mum, surprise! It got worse! 

This book is simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming, about grief, mental illness, and the power of reaching out for help. Both Benny and Annabelle are imperfect and often make poor decisions, but they are still so sympathetic and well-written. They are such a realistic portrayal of a mother who is just trying her best and a teenage boy who is still figuring everything out about himself. I liked the meta, omniscient narration by the Book as well, it felt very similar to The Book Thief in the sense that the narrator knows exactly what is going to happen but is powerless to stop it. 

Overall, don’t be intimidated by this book’s size! The start is a little slow but I was surprised by how much I didn’t want to put the book down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Self harm, and Violence