Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin

5 reviews

mediatrikcxs's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective tense

• 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

4.0

this book slapped. i absolutely love a speculative fiction book that's built out this thoroughly, with consistent rules that are explained in ways that compound the drama of the plot so that all exposition feels natural. A delight to read. I felt like the author could have gotten a little darker with it; a lot of the memory reveals ended up being much less scary than the characters had imagined. I guess that's partially the point, but I kind of thought there would be some way more traumatic memories revealed. I also didn't like "the point is the questions" as a theme– of course life contains tons of mysteries we can't find the answers to, and in some cases we can find the answer, but might choose not to. But the wording of "the point is the questions" implies that that uncertainty is always a good thing, when actually some characters in the book do find that getting the answer is the right choice for them. Also it just sounds a bit trite and childish. All in all a delightful read, and I would also have enjoyed a slightly more grown-up version.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Incest, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

holly_keimig's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is probably something I would not have read if not for book club. It was on the line for me on books I can read with occasionally poor personal mental health and there were definitely moments I was not wanting to keep reading. That said, it was a very interesting concept and led to a good book club discussion. The shifting perspective was a little hard to follow at times and left me wanting more in places. I felt "lost" for most of the book and then when things did start to connect near the end, the pace felt so frantic that it was almost stressful to read (think this may have been intentional by the author). I have always been interested in memory and how the mind processes things and this story was an interesting exploration of how the world would work if memories could be deleted and/or restored and all of the consequences that come with it. Interesting characters and dark in places, but hopeful in others. Good book for sci-fi thriller types and those who are interested in how the brain works. A little too far on the dark side for me personally, but still a good book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

jacquatch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Car accident

Minor: Child death, Incest, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

I feel like this book could have been cut by 1/4 and have been much better. And I felt like there was not much that surprised me. I got bored, but I also wanted to finish just to see how the author wrapped it up.

corpsewhale's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I was so excited for this book because the memory removal concept holds so much potential, but almost nothing in this book worked for me. The most interesting chapters were Noor's because they explored what working in the clinic was actually like. Most of the characters were disagreeable in uninteresting ways and every time there was suspense it was resolved in the most boring way possible. The ending dragged on way longer than it needed to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Car accident

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Islamophobia, and Abandonment