Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Η Ελένα ξέρει by Claudia Piñeiro

194 reviews

kirstym25's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Suicide, and Abortion

emgomersall's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Suicide

ericj32's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This novel opens with the mystery of Elena’s daughter’s suspicious death - she’s found hanging in the belfry of the local church.  The death is ruled a suicide by the police, but that doesn’t make any sense to Elena, so she’s determined to figure out what really happened.  The chapters alternate between Elena’s current search for answers and flashbacks that provide context.  The whole narrative encompasses just one day, following Elena’s excruciatingly slow journey via multiple modes of transportation to ask an old acquaintance for assistance in investigating her daughter’s death.  The identity of this acquaintance and Elena’s connection to her is kept a secret from the reader until the end of the novel, when Elena finally arrives on her doorstep.  The ending is somewhat surprising and emotionally heavy.  In some ways, it seemed to introduce new themes that didn’t feel very connected to the rest of the narrative.  But overall, the story was engaging and the characters felt frustratingly lifelike in their flaws and contradictions.  It also gives you an intimate insight into the experiences of living with Parkinson’s disease and also the rationale of why a woman may want and need access to abortion services.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Excrement

dizzzybrook's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Abortion

catandherbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

The single most important thing a mother can ever learn is the fact that despite how much she thinks she knows her children, she doesn't. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Suicide

ka_schulze's review against another edition

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism

_inge_'s review against another edition

challenging reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicide

Minor: Abortion

aarustin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Abortion

Minor: Dementia

lesedir's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Religious bigotry, and Abortion

Minor: Infertility, Misogyny, and Rape

juchinnii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

I understand what makes this a good book with awards, but I was just in the wrong headspace for this. I don’t think that was entirely my fault though. What sounds like a fast-paced thriller in the blurb is actually a slow-to-start character-driven story about chronic illness, self-determination, and grief. Also didn’t love the writing style - I found it repetitive and the lack of quotation marks, while not too hard to follow most of the time, was a bit annoying. 

Needless to say, not the quick, fun, 1-day read I was expecting. Heavy subject matter handled in a depressing way with not a single likable character to be found (except maybe Isabel). Definitely check trigger warnings on this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Abortion