Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Sorrow & Bliss

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Sorrow & Bliss by Meg Mason

111 reviews

alisonhp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

Wow. One of my favorite books I’ve read this year. I wasn’t convinced by the description, or from the first few chapters. Then, suddenly, I found myself oscillating between feeling deeply moved and bursting out laughing.

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books4em's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This book is all vibes, no plot. Not going to lie, was not a fan of this book at all. I related to the feelings of relief and understanding when she got her diagnosis, but that was about it. It’s a hot mess and the side characters are all over the place as well. They often claim to be doing their best to help the MC, but that “best” is a rally low bar. I also thought it should’ve ended at the journal scene. The ending is a good ending for this book, but I still don’t think the last 30ish pages were necessary. Won’t be rereading.

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jackalexdale's review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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liesbethvv's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.25

This book really grew on me. I felt a bit disconnected from the main character Martha from the beginning, as she struggles through her relationships, romantically and within her family and friends but the second half of the book just blew me away. How well constructed, how painful to see the unreliable narrator fall into despair and with a few plot twist thrown in the different topics just slot together so well.
I must say this is definitely not a lighthearted or laugh-out-loud funny book to me, but the banter between Martha and her sister Ingrid is so, so drily funny it made me smile a lot.
I would definitely recommend this read, albeit a hard one, if only to augment one’s empathy towards the others, you never know what a person is dealing with.

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