Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman

7 reviews

bookishoptimist's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

I really enjoyed this book more than expected.  A journey through the loss of a loved one with a unique twist.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Animal death, Mental illness, Bullying, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse

corriejn's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

A sweet and charming story of loss, friendship, imagination, trauma, and family. 

The last book I'd read by this author was "Beartown" and this one is wildly different, which speaks to his versatility.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Cancer, Pregnancy, Stalking, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity

Spoiler

you don't get 5 stars if the dog dies

cassie7e's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

I didn't love this book and I'm not totally sure what I didn't like about it. It seemed to try to make up for the dark parts with sweetness that came across as saccharine instead. I did appreciate how the fairytales and real world stories interwove.

Since I've soured on JKR the constant references to Harry Potter don't feel quite so whimsical and heartwarming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Infidelity, Death of parent, Mental illness, Animal death, Grief, Cursing, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Stalking, Excrement, and Drug abuse

missknown's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-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

5.0

The sweetest book I've ever read. Told from the perspective of a almost 8 year old girl, Elsa, who just lost her grandmother and best friend, and now as to learn how to deal with all her emotions. The narrator takes the simple view of the world from a child perspective to tell a Christmas tale of loss, love, friendship, and above all else the power of imagination.
Most of the characters, if not all, can be frightening, challenging or straight obnoxious. Although the author manages to transform those same characters into likable people. Explores their past and stories, making them more human, making the reader see they are in fact good people that occasionally do shitty things.
Despite the harshness of some stories and the topics it explores, like grief, the book is very humorous. The light-hearted view of the world from Elsa's perspective and the chaotic energy of Elsa's grandmother, there is plenty of funny moments to break an otherwise very melancholic narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Cancer, Infidelity, War, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse

qiqiwooo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book overall, the characters are extremely loveable and it’s wonderful to see how they change as the book progresses. I feel like this book talked about many more serious topics than I first expected? I finished it in 2 sittings ~3 and a half hours altogether

I think the further I read the more I grew to love the other characters and the more I grew to dislike the main character ?? She gets frustrating and also doesn’t seem to fit her age of 7 (nearly 8) years old  (elsa stop feeding chocolate to the “dog” and referring to your neighbour as “the monster”) 

Also the aimless referencing to “miasma” got really confusing after a while and I felt like I couldn’t really tell what was really happening?? It made it harder to read and made me go “oh huh ??” a bunch of times

Anyways, it was a good experience and whilst I dont regret reading it the ending felt well, not very ended?? Which I dont tend to enjoy greatly, especially since a lot of the characters are kind of left with issues that I wish were explored more

Spoiler

a good example being w/ wolfheart someone please help the poor boy what ?? is he just going to be left with his definetely unhealthy obsessive compulsions whatt

also as relationships are explored in the stories I wish there were more experiences actually between the characters ?? I love alf

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Cancer and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse

madisonfrank's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Animal death, Grief, Death, Pregnancy, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, Violence, War, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse

marija2510's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse