Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

15 reviews

adearajean's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-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

4.0

There are a lot of characters and it was hard for me to figure out who's who at first. It is charming but also very sad/emotional. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Grief, and Abandonment

alynnhays's review

challenging emotional funny 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

4.5

P L O T
Elsa is tasked with distributing apology letters from her late grandmother. The tone is definitely sad, though the story is not about loss but rather about unexpected connections when you get to know someone past face value.

T H E   G O O D   &   T H E   B A D
“It’s been a long time since I had such an amazing reading experience. You almost never do, once you grow up, things are at their peak when you’re a child and then it’s all downhill from there… well… because of the cynicism, I suppose. I just wanted to thank you for reminding me of how things used to be.”

I highlighted several quotes and found the book to be a beautiful story. However, I'm not sure if I could claim I enjoyed it because of the emotional tone. The nostalgic feeling Elsa brought to the story was uplifting, her belief in fantastic ideas and the exciting and creative things her Granny came up with to make her feel special, but it also made me feel sad. It reminded me of the fear of being misunderstood and the fear of losing the few people who truly understand you. There is no doubt that the book was wonderful, but it was also a challenging read emotionally.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, and War

anniebg's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and War

lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Death's greatest power is not that it can make people die, but that it can make people want to stop living.

Backman, as always, knows how to tap into human emotions and explore humanity. What I appreciate most about his writing is his ability to take a simple truth and delve into it to the extent that it prompts a different perspective, making us recognize the significance of that truth. Kudos to Backman (and the translator!) for always knowing how to articulate the essence of humanity.

I enjoyed reading "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry" (in my opinion, Backman can do no wrong). However, I did notice one flaw that bothered me a little: Elsa, who is almost 8 years old, sometimes seemed unusually mature for her age. The only thing that reminded me that she is still a child was her fascination with the Land-of-Almost-Awake. If it weren't for her interest in this imaginary world, she would come across as someone in her teens who simply enjoys escaping reality by creating a different world in her mind.

However, this book reminded me that being different is not wrong. You should not allow society to bring you down simply because you are different.

As with any of Backman's books, he once again reminded me of the importance of kindness. It serves as a reminder that we never truly know the struggles and experiences that others are going through. We should always keep in mind that even the people we may dislike have their own challenges and reasons for behaving the way they do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Infidelity, Car accident, and Death of parent

sea_tea_books's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense

4.0

So much trauma, blanketed by comedy and fantasy, told from the perspective of a young girl. 
It was interesting how each character evolved, their backstories slowly unraveled in bits and pieces, through stories and fairy tales.

[Audiobook: I thoroughly enjoyed Joan Walker's narration of the audiobook. I probably would have DNF if it weren't for her storytelling.]

My heart broke when the wurse died. 💔😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Murder and War

suzydunk'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexism

bookishoptimist's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

I really enjoyed this book more than expected.  A journey through the loss of a loved one with a unique twist.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

ridesthesun's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad medium-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? Yes

4.75

Oh this was just gorgeous 🥺🥺 this narrative style is so well done; everything is tied together and only reveiled a layer at a time, but the reader is lead through the revelations so gently that it feels like you're living along with the characters, finding things out and making sense of the world right alongside Elsa. Community and hope and family and forgiveness 🥺

No one's all shit, and no one's all not-shit 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Stalking

Minor: Cancer and War

embla_v's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful

3.75

En ganska bra bok som jag läst pga skolan. 

Boken handlar om en 7-åring vars mormor dör vilket leder till att flickan skickas ut på en skattjakt. En jakt efter sanningen om alla hon känner och framförallt om sin mormor. 

Rekommenderar till all som gillar Backman böcker. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

madisonfrank's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail