Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

35 reviews

k_ro's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Ce roman mêle ensemble plusieurs sujets durs pour en proposer un traitement adroit mais sombre, dans une langue riche et poétique malgré quelques maladresses.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

Attention, plusieurs thèmes difficiles sont abordés dans ce roman de manière explicite et récurrente. A lire en étant prête à une ambiance lourde.

allyem_reads's review against another edition

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

m_a_j's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death of parent

eliz_hop_1973's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

electricjuicebox's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

4.75

Loved it! 
Some scattered thoughts:

• This is excellent historical fiction, it immersed me in an unfamiliar world and while I kept noting words I didn't recognize, I was able to pick up on their meanings through the general context of the story (I read the novel on a plane and wasn't able to look up any of the old-timey vocab). I wouldn't have expected to like a book set in 1518 Strasbourg as much as I did, but I was absolutely sucked in by KMH's writing. 
• Speaking of the writing, it was beautiful and evocative. 
• This book has some similar themes to The Mercies, the author's first book and one that I really loved. I think I prefer The Mercies between the two if I were forced choose, but I was glad that this was similarly excellent. There's the tragedy of womanhood and women struggling to find agency in a world controlled by men and by the Church (more often some combination of the two), a beautiful focus on complex relationships between women and an exploration of queer relationships in an early modern setting. There's also a really strong sense of place in the vivid descriptions of the oppressive summer heat. 
• I thought the characters were relatable and well fleshed out - I wanted to know more about everyone. Lisbet's struggle to conceive and the guilt she carries for each of her failed pregnancies, as well as the guilt she feels over her mother's death and every bad omen she's ever drawn a connection to, is poignant. 
• I really appreciated the little vignettes between chapters that lent purpose and context to the hundreds of women who fell under the Dancing Plague during this time. 
• I think my main critique of this book is that the plot sped up a lot towards the end in a way that felt less realistic than the first half. It was a more exciting read, but began to feel less believable as a result. I personally still enjoyed it enough to give it such a high rating. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual violence and Torture

voldycat's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

sauvageloup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I picked this up because it was on sale in Blackwell's and just liked the sound of it. Damn, I'm glad I did!

pros: 
- writing is poignant, powerful and weaves a compelling narrative, while never being especially verbose or wandering too far. The dialogue felt real enough for the period, but still intense and readable.
- the characters were all brilliant, they come to life gradually and several change over the period of the story, 

sophey from cruel to an ally, Nethe from cold to loving, henne from a decent man (in comparison to Plater) to cold and unlocking

although many of these are more the revealing of the true character that had been buried by trauma (apart from the latter of course).
- Lisbet showed great growth

both through her own bravery and strength, and through Eren, Nethe, Ida, Friedrich and Sophey's support of her. She is able to let go of her lifelong guilt, her grief for her mother, she is able to believe that she deserves better than Henne, she accepts and loves both a 'Turk' and a 'sodomite', because of who they are as people, and these are all huge things for her and yet the growth felt right and natural

 
- the setting, the history and the depiction of the dancing mania was all extremely evocative and intense, I could picture it all so well and you feel as if you're down there in the pulsing, dangerous crowds, or drowning in the smell of melting beeswax.
- lisbet's alliance with the bees and later the dog, Ulf, added another beautiful layer to her character and her skills as a beekeeper helped her realise her own worth, beyond being a wife and a mother.
- I loved the women's friendships, Lisbet's true love for Ida despite her mixture of jealousy and awe towards her friend, and Nethe's developing care and love for Lisbet, despite her initial fear of closeness.
- the significant tragedies of the book are balanced with successes, which stopped me from feeling betrayed at the end, which I sometimes am with tragic books. bitter sweet, I can do!
- Plater's grim awfulness is written in a way that is familiar but still ghastly, and the dread of his arrival is tangible every time he arrives.

cons:
-

it did plague me a few times that despite Lisbet's obvious love of Ida's children, she does leave them alone several times, when going to the forest or with Eren. I suppose we assume they are safe with the eldest daughter and ida's father, but I thought it odd that Lisbet didnt spare a thought

- also wish that the role of the eldest daughter as a replacement mother might have been examined a little.
-

I wish it hadnt ended like that with Eren, though of course I am glad Plater died. but it felt so unfair that Eren was blamed like that (though historically plausible I know) and there was no hint that those two might reunite, I thought. I know we see Lisbet's dissatisfaction with Henne and her love for Nethe, but I wish there had been a hint of the future. how could the two women leave now theyve got not just Lisbet's baby but all of Ida's children too? that's not ideal for running after Eren. so that was a bit of a shame. 
- it was of course upsetting, though somewhat expected from how saintly she is set up as, that Ida died. as Lisbet and Eren survived, couldnt Nethe and Ida have? it fitted with the story ofc, but it's a shame that it continues the 'bury your gays'

overall, I truly loved this haunting, sad, and powerful historical novel about the power of female friendship and love against loss, hardships and intolerance.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Medical content, and Alcohol

one of the gay characters ends up dead by accidental overdose, and there is the threat of hanging

lorriss's review

emotional tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Slavery, Excrement, Alcohol, and Colonisation

thedukeofpuke_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Blood and Excrement