Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

39 reviews

jennp28's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

A fascinating story of secrets, friendship, love, treason, and code breaking during WWII. And an interesting connection to the royal wedding! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and War

Moderate: Child death, Forced institutionalization, and Xenophobia

Minor: Infidelity

jbpalumbo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

A sweeping historical war-time novel; almost a math geek's League of Their Own. I enjoyed learning about an aspect of WWII history that I had not previously heard about. I also thoroughly enjoyed coming along for the ride of the (fictionalized) rise, fall, and rise again of a trio of war-time friends. As one would expect with a novel set in England during WWII, there is a fair amount of discussion around loss and violence. As the book is centered on a trio of women, the loss and violence they experience is, to a certain degree, reflective of their gender and the patriarchal constructs of the time, though I do appreciate the author's challenge to these experiences. There was just enough romance blended into the book and a solid HEA/HFN for each of the primary characters to keep it from being a complete, war-time downer, though please do read through the content warnings if you have any sensitivity to specific issues because, in more than 600 pages, pretty much every type of loss/traumatic experience is explored to some degree. I did not love that the character coded as autistic ends up spending

Spoiler

three and half years in a mental institution

, even if it was completely irrelevant to their neurodiversity. It just felt kind of ick. Though I, overall, enjoyed the character development, after about 500 pages, had to chuckle at the neat twists that had to snap into place to get to the HEA/HFN. While improbable on balance, those twists make for a satisfying (if not slightly madcap) outcome to an interesting corner of well-fictionalized history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Confinement, Abandonment, Cancer, Classism, Child death, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, and Bullying

Moderate: Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Torture, Terminal illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abortion

The racism and islamophobia are challenged to a degree. There is also a favorable depiction of an open marriage where criticism thereof is challenged.

basil_plant's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

maybe the best book i’ve read so far this year!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Child death, Confinement, Grief, War, and Sexual violence

sh543's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Child death, Xenophobia, Blood, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Hate crime, and Racism

julia_treat99's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Blood, Cancer, Genocide, Racial slurs, and War

bringmybooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad

• 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

5.0

One more book finished for #12BooksRecommendedBy12Friends and it was FANTASTIC.

✨ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 ✨ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

Yet another perfect example of being intimidated by a chunky 500+ pg book and then finishing it in less than a week because you just can’t put it down!

I already knew a fair bit about Enigma and Bletchley Park before reading The Rose Code, but Kate Quinn brings Station X alive in such an amazing way. I loved the narrative format of the book, the dual timeline + multiple POV that kept your attention throughout the entire book.

I loved learning more about the intricacies involved in the actual codebreaking, and I loved the way Quinn explains all of it in a way that mostly feels like you get what’s happening (I say “mostly” because although I thought Quinn did a great job explaining, there were still some situations where I had trouble picturing exactly what the machines looked like).

Seriously in love with this entire book, and with all of the characters - so much. The three female characters felt SO REAL to me, and I was an anxious mess as the book came to it’s climax waiting to see what would happen to all of them.

This is my second Kate Quinn (the first being The Alice Network, which I also loved) and I own both The Huntress & The Diamond Eye - The Diamond Eye is another one I plan on reading this year for the 12Books12Friends challenge and I can’t wait!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Infidelity

srah's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

4.5

I took off a quarter point for being a bit longer and slower than it needed to be, and another quarter point for the graphic descriptions in the

Spoiler

Café de Paris

scene, which I have been thinking about all week since I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, and Grief

Minor: Genocide and Homophobia

inked_in_pages's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Grief, Sexism, Death, and Child death

daniallreads's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-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? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, and Rape

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual content

rc05's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Confinement, Death, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism