Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah

18 reviews

goldensisyphus's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Pedophilia

bookworm_sam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Sexual assault

tfischbach's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.0

I've had this book on my kindle for years. It seemed right up my alley, but I had never sat down to read it. Then I picked it up this month and it was the perfect time. There's a bit of mystery, a bit of relationship building, and a whole lot of being outside. I was once a biological technician doing this kind of work, so it was fun to see that on the page, too. There were some plot points that were a little odd, like the relationships with the university students and faculy. It wasn't bad, but I'm not sure it was needed.

Questions I would like to talk to someone about are:
1. The author treats one of the characters mental illness in a way that makes it appear relatively easy to overcome. Do you think that is realistic?
2. What would you do if you were in the same situation with a small child claiming to be an alien and who obviously is afraid to go home?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, and Child abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

There are a lot of bad things that come up later in the book, but you know it's coming. That's the mystery. Why is this girl here?

The story is not sci fi.

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

Minor: Dementia

malea_ann's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

pursuing_metanoia's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

carlack7's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

A delightful read! So glad I didn't know much about this book going into it. I honestly didn't know if I was reading literary fiction, a mystery or sci-fi! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death and Infertility

cmm9200's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

This book had me crying at the end. I loved it from the first couple of pages. I felt like I was going on a rollercoaster of emotions, and the plot had me turning page after page. I had this on both digital and audible formats. When I wasn't reading, I was listening to it. Highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

pastelmeganes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad 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

3.25

The beginning had a decent premise that hooked me in in the first place. Then there was a HUGE genre change from speculative fiction/magical realism to murder mystery suspense. It made it difficult to finish at the end because it really wasnt the direction i wanted the story to go but in sure someone may like it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Child abuse

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Chronic illness and Drug abuse

readwithev's review

emotional hopeful sad 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? No

4.0

I thought it was interesting that Ursa was so smart; she used her imagination and love of astronomy to cope with trauma. Separating herself from her mom’s murder by create a second identity makes sense psychologically and it was an interesting twist. The ending was very satisfying. I was worried Ursa would end of with a foster family that wouldn’t understand her. I also enjoyed Jo and Gabe’s love story. It didn’t feel too rushed and awkward. Gabe’s complicated family secret seemed like a strange addition to the story at first but I realized it helped Jo and Gabe develop courage, empathy, and understanding for others.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol