Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

L'albero delle bugie by Frances Hardinge

13 reviews

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

jessi_lou95's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Blood

lrose02's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is my second reread of the month, but a book I read when I was a teenager. It’s a lot darker than I remember but was also a light read as it was YA. It’s a change in genre for me. As I’m much older reading this, as I was Faith’s age during my first read, I find myself more protective of her. She’s let down by everyone, except the one boy her age. Her mother is cruel at times, but you come to understand her. She’s a mother doing her best after the mess her husband leaves her. You see the Reverend through Faith’s eyes, and the way she admires him. At the end, you become just as disillusioned as her. You also become protective of How, the same way she is. This is the second mystery type book I’ve read but I found it was much more satisfying, and the darkness is both necessary but accepted just as Faith accepts her facts of life. She’s so intelligent but still childlike, torn between being a young girl but not quite an adult. The ending is satisfying and as happy as the style of book can be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Suicide and Religious bigotry

yasaman's review against another edition

adventurous 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder

emmasbookshelf22's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

thalassa_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-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? Yes

5.0

To start with, this was the best narration I've experienced so far in an audiobook, Emilia Fox is incredible and her masterful reading has brought the story, characters and every beautiful sentence to life in a way I wouldn't have thought possible.
The fact that the narration was so incredibly vivid also made the harrowing misogyny Faith and the other women are exposed to so much more visceral. I almost quit twice because the injustice felt unbearable. But I'm glad I continued. (Nothing bad happens really, it's mainly men congratulating themselves on their self-diagnosed intellectual superiority and being nasty.)
The book is beautifully written, the language and imagery vivid and effective. The first half introduces the characters and setting and might feel slow if you're expecting a fantasy novel. It's really more a story about a young, intelligent girl in the 19th century trying to find ways to follow her curiosity and thirst for scientific knowledge, against all of society including her idolized father, a natural scientist. As the story unfolds (from her perspective) it becomes clear in what ways the other women similarly fight for their interests while carefully curating their public image.
There are so many additional layers to this book, the very real consequences of lies, the relief of finding someone you can trust, science, religion and the difficult realization that humans are simply evolved animals. I also loved the interactions of Faith with her little brother, an innocent boy struggling with the expectations placed on him as the male.
All in all an amazing book with so many facets.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Death of parent

fe_aye's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

This isn’t the sort of book I normally read, it had a rather slow beginning but once it finally picked up the pace I found myself enthralled. It took a while to get there and the narration style certainly put me off because it was way to formal but for this book it works, if you can manage to look past those things this will probably be a very good read for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death

rainetheghost's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

antimony's review against another edition

mysterious

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

4.5

my 2nd favorite frances hardinge book after deeplight bc this one ALSO has everything!! a windswept isolated island! a creepy plant! victorian naturalists! murder!! anyway this is very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Death of parent, and Murder