Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'
This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
119 reviews
dreadspawn's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture
skillyillian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I expected this to be way harder to understand, based off of what everyone else has said about it, but honestly??? It wasn't that difficult to parse out what was happening. The prose is beyond stellar. I loved every minute of this. It was like extended slam poetry. The narrators for the audiobook did a phenomenal job. Just the right amount of romance, mystery, time travel, wordplay, horniness, betrayal, scifi nonsense, and more. Loved it. Loved loved loved. The description of the place Red goes at the end had me scratching my head but in that scifi way where you just go with it because trying to picture it simply won't work if you're sober.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
cicizzy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
„I can hide in words so long as I scatter them through my body; to read your letters is to gather flowers from within myself, pluck a blossom here, a fern there, arrange and rearrange them in ways to suit a sunny room.“
This book just feels like pure art. I loved reading the story even though the writing style could also be challenging at times. The story itself is very mysterious and doesn’t really answer any questions. You just have to go with the flow. But it didn’t bother me at all, it just created a mysterious atmosphere that gave the words even more opportunity to shine.
This will be a story I can reread and always find discover new with each read.
This book just feels like pure art. I loved reading the story even though the writing style could also be challenging at times. The story itself is very mysterious and doesn’t really answer any questions. You just have to go with the flow. But it didn’t bother me at all, it just created a mysterious atmosphere that gave the words even more opportunity to shine.
This will be a story I can reread and always find discover new with each read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Confinement, Death, Torture, and Stalking
weigel_brianna's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide attempt and War
anni_o's review against another edition
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
5.0
I recommend you do not read what this is about before you start.
The style is poetic, beautiful but also a bit confusing at times. This did not hinder me from falling in love with both of them pretty much from the start. The romance hit me with a club from behind (i was the whacked seal), not because I was necessarily surprised by it, I am very familiar with enemies to lovers as a trope, but more because I was stunned how much INTO IT I was. My lesbian darlings, red in blue, blue in red, I- gods.
Anyway.
I adored reading this. Admit to needing the audiobook next to the book because I had difficulty concentrating, but that is probably just me (being non-native english speaking). The audiobook had GREAT voice actors tbh, very well-chosen.
I finished and I wanted to read it again. I cried. I gasped. I was giddy at some of the references.
I recommend if you read this to read it in one sitting, just completely engross yourself in it.
Loved the world, the two mains and how their way of interaction and how they write their letters showed so much about them.
Big recommendation from me, my kinda book, five stars straight up.
The style is poetic, beautiful but also a bit confusing at times. This did not hinder me from falling in love with both of them pretty much from the start. The romance hit me with a club from behind (i was the whacked seal), not because I was necessarily surprised by it, I am very familiar with enemies to lovers as a trope, but more because I was stunned how much INTO IT I was. My lesbian darlings, red in blue, blue in red, I- gods.
Anyway.
I adored reading this. Admit to needing the audiobook next to the book because I had difficulty concentrating, but that is probably just me (being non-native english speaking). The audiobook had GREAT voice actors tbh, very well-chosen.
I finished and I wanted to read it again. I cried. I gasped. I was giddy at some of the references.
I recommend if you read this to read it in one sitting, just completely engross yourself in it.
Loved the world, the two mains and how their way of interaction and how they write their letters showed so much about them.
Big recommendation from me, my kinda book, five stars straight up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Confinement
mikathereviewer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-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
1.0
This was one of my most anticipated books for this month and I am so disappointed.
The following will only be a rant about the book. Nothing good I found except that we got an explanation that "Steganography is hidden writing." and that the ending was interesting.
As always; I respect opinions from others and therefore expect the same to be done to me. If you liked the book, so be it. I don't have anything against your opinion or rating to this book.
First of all the letter beginnings are so weird and cringe sometimes. Especially these references. When I understood it right the 'Dearest Blue-da-ba-dee,' is a reference of this one annoying frog song and we also get other cringe-worthy references like 'Dearest 0000FF' (colour hexcode, you all can't legit call this cute or romantic) and of course our so 'cool' flex with languages 'My dear Miskowaanzhe' which is Anishinaabemowin 'cause of course the author totally speaks that language and didn't translate this on full purpose to sound so 'cool'.
The whole writing was always the same, no matter which character wrote the letter and therefore it was sometimes hard to distinguish the two. Both therefore seemed also flat and we only get trauma dumping in the most inappropriate ways. They both also wrote almost since the beginning like they knew eachother since ages and not like strangers that form a bond over time, which made it unrealistic for me to belive that they later on fell in love.
The writing style was also unbearable to me. It was often poetically written but in either cringe or way to melodramatic ways.
Examples
1. ‘Have you ever had a hunger that whetted itself on what you fed it, sharpened so keen and bright that it might split you open, break a new thing out?
Sometimes I think that’s what I have instead of friends.’
2. ‘I have been birds and branches. I have been bees and wolves. I have been ether flooding the void between stars, tangling their breath into networks of song. I have been fish and plankton and humus, and all these have been me.’
3. ‘I want to be a body for you.
I want to chase you, find you, I want to be eluded and teased and adored; I want to be defeated and victorious—I want you to cut me, sharpen me.’
I also never understood or rather we never got told what kind of creatures they both are. Even though it's science fiction, we barely get any of it. And we get almost no other explanations like how certain things worked like the ways with the MRI machine and stuff as that was their way of sending letter without being caught.
If the writing style would have been different and we would have got more explanations of things I might would have enjoyed the book more. But the whole book felt like a sketch that wasn't supposed to be published yet.
Wasn't for me, but perhaps someone else would like this story and its characters.
July 17, 2024
The following will only be a rant about the book. Nothing good I found except that we got an explanation that "Steganography is hidden writing." and that the ending was interesting.
As always; I respect opinions from others and therefore expect the same to be done to me. If you liked the book, so be it. I don't have anything against your opinion or rating to this book.
First of all the letter beginnings are so weird and cringe sometimes. Especially these references. When I understood it right the 'Dearest Blue-da-ba-dee,' is a reference of this one annoying frog song and we also get other cringe-worthy references like 'Dearest 0000FF' (colour hexcode, you all can't legit call this cute or romantic) and of course our so 'cool' flex with languages 'My dear Miskowaanzhe' which is Anishinaabemowin 'cause of course the author totally speaks that language and didn't translate this on full purpose to sound so 'cool'.
The whole writing was always the same, no matter which character wrote the letter and therefore it was sometimes hard to distinguish the two. Both therefore seemed also flat and we only get trauma dumping in the most inappropriate ways. They both also wrote almost since the beginning like they knew eachother since ages and not like strangers that form a bond over time, which made it unrealistic for me to belive that they later on fell in love.
The writing style was also unbearable to me. It was often poetically written but in either cringe or way to melodramatic ways.
Examples
1. ‘Have you ever had a hunger that whetted itself on what you fed it, sharpened so keen and bright that it might split you open, break a new thing out?
Sometimes I think that’s what I have instead of friends.’
2. ‘I have been birds and branches. I have been bees and wolves. I have been ether flooding the void between stars, tangling their breath into networks of song. I have been fish and plankton and humus, and all these have been me.’
3. ‘I want to be a body for you.
I want to chase you, find you, I want to be eluded and teased and adored; I want to be defeated and victorious—I want you to cut me, sharpen me.’
I also never understood or rather we never got told what kind of creatures they both are. Even though it's science fiction, we barely get any of it. And we get almost no other explanations like how certain things worked like the ways with the MRI machine and stuff as that was their way of sending letter without being caught.
If the writing style would have been different and we would have got more explanations of things I might would have enjoyed the book more. But the whole book felt like a sketch that wasn't supposed to be published yet.
Wasn't for me, but perhaps someone else would like this story and its characters.
July 17, 2024
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Abandonment
fynm's review
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
complicated to read and tough go get into at first, but once u get the hang of it, it‘s actually quite sweet
pretty dramatic writing tho, idk why they write their letters so out of character and posh
P.S. for a book about and with letters in it, it‘s really good
pretty dramatic writing tho, idk why they write their letters so out of character and posh
P.S. for a book about and with letters in it, it‘s really good
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
lilybarna's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
3.75
A really beautiful story, written in beautiful prose. The first half of the book took my time to get used to, left me feeling confused at moments. But the second half was incredible and with longer narrative chunks.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt
isaacalaister's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-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
I love this book so damn much. The prose is so beautiful and so funny. Sometimes I would feel totally lost in the settings of each century/dimension, but even that was enjoyable.
I wish I could read this again
The ending is hopeful enough to not give me severe depression por a month.
I wish I could read this again
The ending is hopeful enough to not give me severe depression por a month.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and War
valerian_honeybee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, and War
Moderate: Body horror and Grief
Minor: Genocide