Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Eighth Life (for Brilka) by Nino Haratischwili

28 reviews

heatherinjapan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book felt like my heart was ripped out multiple times and made me go through so many tumultuous emotions. Definitely not for the faint of heart and definitely has a lot of triggering sections. It explores generational trauma so deeply and so well that I found myself so intrigued in each character's stories. There are also so many things happening throughout this book that somehow all come together in the end. The author also accurately portrays how patriarchy upholds a lot of this generational trauma. We see this through a lot of the male characters, specifically through Kostja (I really came to despise him despite his somewhat "redemption" in the end.)

Though I haven't read A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (and I never will), based on what others have said, this book is probably as trauma-filled as it is. So take what you will with that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Murder, and War

erikwm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.75

I found the first half intriguing and even enchanting, in its dark own way, but then it started feeling very protracted, long-winded, garrulous. I did finish it because I felt I owed it to the great first half of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

machenn's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Abortion

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, and Homophobia

nadia's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow. I am seriously stunned. I cannot believe I read a 950-page book and wasn't bored once.

If the thought of an epic multi-generational family saga spanning a century, meshed in with a history of Georgia and the Soviet Union, with airs of mystery, sadness, and darkness sound compelling, then definitely pick this one up.

I was wholly immersed in the story, captivated by the narration and writing,  and was also surprised, given the breadth of the book in both timespan and cast size, that I didn't get confused between who was who once. The characters and their relation to one another were always so clear in my mind. Wild!

It's such a big book, with so much time for things to go wrong, and...they just didn't!

A magical story and a new all-time favourite!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

klarastrube's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Abortion, and Murder

ssreadsintranslation's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide and Toxic relationship

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Abortion, and Outing

lineofbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

tabitha_isabelle's review

1.5

A history book masquerading as fiction. Studded throughout with explanatory passages detailing the nuances of the historical period, I felt that this overly ambitious work did not fulfil its promise. I enjoyed the insight it gave me into Georgian history (something I knew very little about), but could not get over the poor quality of the writing. The characterisation was especially weak - incidents seem contrived, whilst decisions lacked believability. At times the characters felt like mere caricatures. The reams of exposition did not help in this regard. 

One more thing (that hardly needs saying) a book focusing on a family in the Soviet Union in the 20th century does not need an additional something that brings people misfortune or bad luck - terrible things were happening anyway! The magical hot chocolate was redundant. 

On the whole a dissatisfying read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder