Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer

5 reviews

anxiousbookclub's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

basil_touche's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.5

I ended up being sold on this book after reading the first page. It's bizarre premise and absurd sense of humor really appeal to my own sensiblities when it comes to fiction, while also having an emotional core that holds no barred to it's subject. The style of the writing was clear and kept my attention and the fun quirks with the typography where words move or even form the shape of an egg really added to the experience. 

Egg was probably my favourite character, I kept imaginging him as being a puppet from the Jim Henson Company and the erratic wiggling of his absurdly long arms made for quite the humourous image. But, he's also essential to the darker subject matter in helping Issac acknowledge and remember the full extent of his wife's death. It's a fine balance that I think the book does with flying colours. Whether Egg was real or a memory of Mary's last book project is left for the reader to decide. I like to think it's a little of both.

I do think that the big reveal near the end of the book was obvious and that it felt a tad rushed at the end, but I still found the conclusion to be an emotional and satsifying one (I even got a little teary eyed). Really glad I read this one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

nyree42's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

...wow. I'm devastated.

I really want Egg to be real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident

imacocoageek's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective slow-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

3.5

This is a beautiful book about grief, love, and an egg-shaped alien. It follows a man who has lost everything, and we follow his depressing journey with a lost egg-shaped alien... and how they saved each other. Still consider this book even if aliens aren't your thing. This isn't fantasy; he's a cute alien anyways. It is beautifully written and made me laugh, tear up, and smile. As well, the cover is gorgeous. Great debut novel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Death

lauren176's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, and Car accident