Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin

44 reviews

kimmberr's review against another edition

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

4.75

this book is about a 16 year old girl who has never been taught how to stay. she travels alone, unable to stay in one place because her flaws are too much for others…so she thinks. it’s heart wrenching and heart warming and very well might make you tear up by the end

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

hellokaley's review against another edition

hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.5

A coming-of-age story that I think was a little too young for me personally. I’m not huge on the YA genre in general, so I’ll completely chalk this up to personal preference. 

I liked certain parts of April’s journey and although there were some quite problematic storylines, she was really just a 16-year old girl who had overcome quite difficult circumstances including abandonment from her parents.

I enjoyed the found family theme and felt the end was very sweet. And as always, Julia Whelan did a wonderful job with the audiobook narration.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Abandonment

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy

mamadeb615's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

I absolutely loved this book!  I think it was a BookTok recommendation, but honestly don’t remember.  It moves along at a good pace and has a wide range of mostly likeable characters.  It’s very well written and moves at a good pace. Every time I took a break from it, I couldn’t wait to go back and find out what happened next.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Terminal illness

bertrandlm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Dementia, and Car accident

arayo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Homophobia, Vomit, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

laur_astor's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

My second time reading this book didn’t disappoint and the audiobook is very good.

As someone who has lived in Ithaca, this book perfectly encapsulates its magic. As April says, “And snow feels nicer in Ithaca. I don’t know why. Everything is nicer there.” And as Adam says, “It's a hard place to leave… the world doesn't seem as right anyplace else.”

Some things I noticed during my reread: *mild spoilers ahead* Carly is pretty cold when April meets her, which makes their friendship even more wholesome since they really needed each other. I forgot how much I enjoyed Bodie, too. Also, you can feel April’s slight uneasiness in the chapters about Justin. Even though April does love him, there’s a comfort in other people who she meets that I just couldn’t feel when she’s with Justin. He just doesn’t understand her like Carly, Margo, and Ethan. Ugh ETHAN! His proclamation of how much he loves her at the end is the best. And I just love how their relationship is purely platonic.

This won’t be the last time I revisit this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

martieliz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

mdavis26's review against another edition

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

skylover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was overall a good read, the side characters were lovable as hell and the road-trip lifestyle was a cool adventure to fictionally take part of. The MC I had a hard time rooting for when it felt like she wasn't always giving back to the people who were there for her, and I'm not a fan of time jumps, so a three-year gap felt pointless since she wasn't that much more grown up or wise since we saw April in Ithaca when she was 16. Margo, Adam, Carly, and Ethan were the real ones. I literally couldn't stand Justin so the ending felt a little disappointing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Vomit, and Death of parent