Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

178 reviews

talyahonor23's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

While I enjoyed the reading this book and the writing style, I hated every single character.  Why did shegave to go into so much deatil with the child abuse? Even the adult sex scenes were either violent or too explicit.  And Why was everyone so rich and so beautiful? The only one who is considered neither is poor Gina. There was also a lot of sexual violence against most females characters as well as everyone leading very shitty lives. Was no one allowed ro be happy for real? I hate cheaters but I was intrigued by their story. The author is a little dated...using butter on a burn has been considered an old wives tale for years. Her obsession with meat and dairy is also a little out of touch. But it was an easy and interesting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Body shaming, Child death, Incest, Medical trauma, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

empathreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It's amusing how the journey went from initially disliking the main character to gradually rooting for her, but not really (picky on some parts). There are reasons behind every action and the subsequent consequences, regardless of how positive or dire they may be. If it's not you fulfilling something in that life, something is bound to happen. The subtleties throughout the book, along with metaphors leading up to the years portrayed, shed light on generational patterns. Ultimately, it's her choice, and the outcome remains uncertain. The ending brings about new beginnings—whether good or bad, it could be either or even both.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Grief, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Incest, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Death

tiffany_stevenson's review against another edition

challenging emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, and Terminal illness

georgie_mb's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

I feel really mixed about this. Maybe this is more of a 2.75 than a 3…

Let’s start with the positives: the descriptions are truly beautiful, and that honestly was a whole star in my rrating system. I could see The Paper Palace and it’s surrounding, it was a very sensory experience. 
For some reason (and I don’t really know why), I got more into this in the second half than the first, and I’m wondering whether it was because I settled into the banter of the family. Possibly because it reminded me slightly of my own…

I do have some issues with it though. Firstly I don’t think it helped that the Audible narrator sounded like the female US Siri which made some of it come across as very cold. But I think even looking past that, some parts really lacked emotion, and almost came across as harsh. I found this particularly hard to swallow when it come to the really disturbing parts, so much so I had to skip forward sometimes. 

I also found the storyline lacked purpose. I think with the beginning it set it up to be a completely different book to what it turned out to be, and I was left slightly disappointed by that. There just didn’t seem to be any clear direction, regardless of the varying time lines. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Sexual assault, Death, Incest, Infidelity, and Rape

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

elsmithies's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Cancer

Moderate: Death

phou's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Incest, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia and Death

Minor: Misogyny

brett311's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Infidelity

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Death and Cancer

eule's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

This book is haunting and beautiful at the same time. The characters were incredibly vivid and traceable meaning that you could feel how torn apart Elle is between the past and the present. Lovely depiction of nature and the fragility of relationships. 
So much (!!!) emotional trauma in one book. Please check the trigger warnings, it gets pretty graphic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Incest, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, and Grief

absolute_bookery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Haunting, traumatic, sad and triggering but written so beautifully. I loved it even if it weighed heavy on my heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Cancer

brookac's review against another edition

4.75

Really good book but definitely didn’t turn out how I thought it would based on the blurb. There really should have been content warnings because some of the things described are very graphic and traumatic. I’m not a huge fan of the ending because it’s ambiguous but I wouldn’t say it’s ambiguous in a bad way. As a reader, there are a couple of conclusions you can come to, so pick the best one for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Cancer and Death