Reviews tagging 'Death'

Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

16 reviews

melodyriggs's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

3.0

 This was a weird one, but at the heart of the absurd story of a woman recovering from tragedy falling in love with a frogman, is the story of wanting to be loved. Mr. Caliban is dealing with their personal tragedies by having affairs. Mrs. Caliban is just sad, until an amphibious man shows up in her kitchen after escaping from an institute. They begin affair with her hiding the frog man in the guest bedroom until it no longer becomes safe for the frog man to stay there. On the whole, it's good writing, just a weird story. Not sure if this would be a good one for seniors in AP or not (I've been reading short novels to kind of look at whether or not they would be good ones to add in for juniors and seniors whose class loads don't provide a lot of time for reading but want good literature). 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Miscarriage and Xenophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Death, Sexual assault, and Torture

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence

ottercorg's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I picked this one up after seeing it in an article, recommended to those who enjoyed Where the Wild Things Are as a child. It was my favorite, so naturally I wanted to give this one a shot. 

This was easy, funny, and pleasant. I loved the conversations, particularly between Dorothy and Estelle - they felt so natural and real, as if I was right there in the room with them. 

I enjoyed Ingalls’ writing style, and enjoyed the plot. The only reason I’m not giving it a full 5 stars is because the ending was SO fast I nearly got whiplash and it was almost hard to follow. The pace suits the events of the ending, but still, I would’ve appreciated a little more. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, and Murder

thequeenofsheba3's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Violence and Death

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Addiction, Child death, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Grief, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual content

hiashleynine's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I actually don’t know how I feel about this book. It was a very quick read, and a lot of the dialogue  between Dorthy and Larry was nicely written and felt profound at times. I think I went into this expecting one thing and was met with something completely different. All I know for certain is FUCK Fred and FUCK Estelle! 
This is not a bad book at all, just one I might need to think about a little more to fully gauge how I feel about it…

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Pedophilia, and Torture

alishamegan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Torture, Car accident, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, and Death

blewballoon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-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? No

3.0

This book certainly affected me. I was unsettled, disturbed, and upset in the end and it stuck with me for a while. Most of the characters apart from Dorothy are almost comically awful, but not comically enough for it not to be distressing. Even during the parts of the book where pleasant things are occurring, there is a constant undercurrent of tension and dread. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

maggywaggy's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Amazing

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, and Child death