Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

13 reviews

siebensommer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

Where is the border between life and oblivion? Why should anyone presume to recognize it?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Sexism

karenmsecrest's review

challenging emotional reflective 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

A sweeping epic spanning generations written in lyrical prose. Themes of connection, isolation, triumph, loss, trauma, and victory. 

At the core is the story of a girl growing up in prohibition-era Montana desperate to become an aviatrix, and the actress who will play her on film 90 years later. Without giving any spoilers, there is a LOT of trauma in this story, as with any story set during depression, prohibition, WWII, etc. The way the disparate lives are woven together is stunning. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Rape, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abortion, Child death, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Child abuse

booksandmo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Child abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Grief, Pedophilia, Gore, and Death

Minor: Abortion

littlefish's review

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Addiction, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, War, and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Abortion, Child death, and Sexual assault

Minor: Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Homophobia

kimberlyallen011's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, War, Homophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Child death, Death of parent, and Racism

vikkom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This piece of fiction HITS on so many levels once it's finished. Judging by my engagement at the start I was definitely not expecting how many moments throughout that I would read a sentence and just sit there and stare and ponder, or bookmark to write down once I get up after keeping on reading. 

I thought this book was going to be about this random lady Marian Graves attempting a north-south circumnavigation, and the fictional actress Hadley being fascinated and throwing herself into the history of Marian in preparation for the role. The book is about that, but I'd say that it's only about 10% that. 

The rest of the book is about Marian Graves, and the people she loved and loved her, from before birth, to death; it is about Hadley, the starlet, and her journey with the pressures of hollywood, acting, falling in lust, and being... drawn to Marian and also knowing and feeling uncomfortable with the fact that the Marian she is playing is almost entirely reconstructed. 

This book paints the sweeping arc of Marian's life, and the lives of the people that were most important to her. It deals with feeling multiple, contradictory feelings at once; it deals with estrangement from people you love; it deals with loving people and yet hating them; it deals with queer love in the 40s and 50s; it deals with the what-could-have-beens while acknowledging that sequences of events have a certain inevitability and circularity; and overall, it deals with the messy and complex and less-than-idyllic ways that humans connect. Lives are lived, opportunities are lost. People die. We go on.

N.B. one thing I would say though, is that it took me over half of the book (no small feat, it's a solid 300 pages) to actually get *into* the story. I think mainly because I wasn't expecting a grand sweeping whole-of-life tale, but the book comes around in a nice circle, once I realised that was what it was. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and War

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Hate crime

Minor: Abortion and Child death

danajoy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

I listened to this as an audiobook while doing a very menial work task and despite the length it felt like it flew. 
Marian is such a strong and determined protagonist but her life really is dominated by struggle. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Child death

sib_reads's review against another edition

adventurous reflective 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Death of parent, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Abortion, Hate crime, Homophobia, Abandonment, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Excrement, Infertility, Pedophilia, Racism, and Xenophobia

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

This is one of the best books I've read this year. I often enjoy books which tell a sweeping story following a character's whole life and I thought it was done brilliantly here. I was so invested in Marian Graves and she felt so much like a real person. However I was also really interested in Hadley, the actor playing Marian in a movie, which meant I never minded when the chapters switched to her story. I enjoyed seeing the parallels and contrasts between the two characters' lives and there was some fascinating commentary about truth and how to tell someone's story. It's a very long book and I've seen it criticised for that but honestly I didn't want it to end. It had so many elements that I loved and it's reminded me how much I enjoy certain types of historical fiction. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Misogyny, Death, Rape, War, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Child death

gracemacdonald94's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

What a knockout! This book is gorgeously written, the plot twists, the characters feel full and deep. I appreciated both the historical and contemporary plotlines and was happy with the ways they were enmeshed. I truly think this is one of the better books I will read this year. There are many points of similarity between "Great Circle" and "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" but I am convinced that Great Circle handles everything better, more feelingly, and with more nuance. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Child death