Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Aja aurasi vainajain luitten yli by Olga Tokarczuk

47 reviews

risemini's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

egle_va's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

“…I realized that sorrow is an important word for defining the world. It lies at the foundations of everything, it is the fifth element, the quintessence.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, and Murder

dizzzybrook's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I adored everything about this book. I’ve found myself becoming increasingly bored with literary mystery/thriller books written from the POV of an unreliable narrator but Tokarczuk’s execution here is really great. Janina is one of my favorite literary characters that I’ve read in quite a while. Honestly, this book could have had absolutely no plot and I would have considered it a six star book anyways based on how incredible I found the prose alone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Violence, and Blood

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

dark funny 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

4.0

As the main character and narrator of this darkly funny novel, Mrs. Duszejko steals the show.  A fierce old woman who lives alone in a house on a remote Polish plateau, she has a big personality as an eccentric astrologer, vegetarian, non-Catholic, and translator of William Blake.  She patrols the area surrounding her home daily and has a few, select friends.  After her neighbor, “Bigfoot,” is found dead, a series of deaths unfolds, but no one will hear her theories about stags and stars.  Ultimately, this is a story of a woman in a significant amount of grief.  Beata Poźniak’s narration is exemplary—just perfect.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

rusina's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Religious bigotry

willow_thewisp's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Grief and Religious bigotry

garbagebarge69's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Violence and Murder

goatsrsexy's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a hard book to review, because I really enjoyed it. It was super introspective. A literary mystery. I was attracted by the title and it was also my pick for Storygraph Read The World Poland prompt. 

I loved our main character and the way she views the world in such a sad but honest way. I loved her nicknames for her neighbours and her compassion for animals.

It was interesting to read a book from the perspective of a kind of elderly (but she wasn't really that old) woman who lives on the outskirts of society and isn't really viewed as a real person worthy of respect because of her age and the way she acts. She was a very relatable character for me even though I am not an old crazy lady (yet).

My only issue with this book was it was a little slow for me, I couldn't really get into it as much as I wanted to but that may just be cus of the circumstances around when I read it (I've been feeling a little preoccupied lately).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

jordy_kay's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

An older astrology girlie manifests Crime and Punishment too well. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

marinark's review against another edition

dark funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Gore