Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

14 reviews

jo_22's review

emotional inspiring 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

4.5

Awesome book- I loved the Minnesota setting and that it was centered around the supper club. Did a great job shifting character perspectives and time periods and it was really wholesome. Themes/focus areas of family & generations, small town culture, hardship & hope. I do wish there was a bit more parts tying some plot points together (ex.

Have Ned reflect on Mariel’s death or convo of Ned talking to Julia about Gus. More of Florence and Mariel after they reconcile, etc

) however @ the same time I do think there was strength and effectiveness in not focusing so much on the dynamics between characters after plot points occur and more focused on how each character deals with / lives their life with the weight/gifts/hopes of past generations. Plus it aligns well with the Midwestern/Minnesotan way of “things we don’t talk about”. 
I loved the last page— and overall the book made me reflect on and appreciate my family & generations before me. 
Really well-written.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infertility, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Classism

purplepenning's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent

edietz22's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

0.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, and Pregnancy

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book, and I was impressed at how the author could so intimately describe the characters' emotions. It was also a really complex look at the characters, which made them feel really human. People are extremely imperfect and make mistakes that hurt people, but we can't easily put them into boxes that are as simple as "good" and "bad." Will definitely read this author again. He had some really good turns of phrase.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Outing

kyriannaj's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Completely disregard the summary. It doesn't accurately set the book up, and having read and expected that to be what was delivered, I spent the first 100 pages confused and frustrated that what I was promised was no where to be found. However, after that 100 pages? I fell in love. I was fascinated by the characters, their choices, their development, everything. Ned was a confusing character to me and I have mixed feelings on him. His relationship with Mariel also perplexed me. To me though, Florence stole the show. Her innate humanity throughout, the good choices, bad decisions, compromises, consequences, successes, and changes throughout her life were the heart of the book. I felt the ending was rushed and st uggling to figure out a way to wrap it up. I think it would've benefitted from another few chapters to really finalize and let the ending build.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, Pregnancy, and Outing

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Car accident, and Death of parent

kmad's review against another edition

3.0

Loved the MN setting, hated the confusing time jumps 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer

brianna97's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I was NOT expecting this book to be heavy and sad? I guess that’s why they say to not judge a book by it’s cover! It was a slow burn (for me) but it was well written and enjoyable over all. The ending was a little disappointing; I just wished there was slightly more to it. Overall it’s a good book ~ 3.5!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Homophobia and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, and Terminal illness

sytaylor's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia and Miscarriage

katiejohns's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infertility, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Cancer

lindsm94's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This books jumps around between characters and timelines a lot, honestly I was lost/confused for a lot of it. The book has animal death right away and discusses infertility, miscarriage, child loss, and parental loss/illness so avoid if those topics are hard for you. 

The story was sweet at times covering 4 generations of women, but not my favorite read. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy