Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Flux by Jinwoo Chong

27 reviews

pond_newt's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I really loved this book. It took me a while to get into it and I was quite confused for the first quarter of the book but it brought it all together very well by the end. There were some really emotional scenes throughout the book, especially from the POV of Bo, which hit very hard. Although it's sold to be about time travel the main focuses are grief and family, with the sci fi elements largely taking a back seat. Massively recommend, particularly if you enjoyed the show Severance as they share similar tones and themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Dementia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Racism, Violence, and Pregnancy

lego28's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

hamstringy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This is definitely a really powerfully written book about grief, fandom, and tech-politics. The narrator was excellent. I don’t quite know how I feel about the ending or most of Blue’s parts—I feel like I’m missing fulfillment here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Racism and Car accident

ukponge's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Violence

kell_xavi's review against another edition

2.0

Intriguing, eerily luscious setting and tantalizingly strange occurrences that stay vague, piecemeal, aesthetic more than meaning. Too everyday in its personal drama,  too distant and inarticulate in its speculative elements. Didn’t come together for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence and Murder

wenwanzhao's review

challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I honestly feel so mindfucked right now. Time travel has never really been my thing because it’s so easy for my brain to lose it. I’ve never been great at conceptualizing high-level mathematics of physics, and when someone tries to be confusing about time travel, they usually pull from those subjects.  

My feelings about this book wavered as I kept reading it. Sometimes it dragged and felt stupid, but other times it was riveting. I liked how many tidbits tied into each other. I liked the subtle and informative world building. I even enjoyed how much of an asshole the protagonist was. 

The writing was really fascinating. I love second person, and the use of that perspective was really good in this novel. There were many plot choices that felt kind of janky, but I like experimentation. Not everything landed, but I’ve never read a book like this before. It was new and exciting. I had fun. 

I think what really pushed this book from a 3.75 to a 4 for me was that it was ultimately about a boy who wanted to save his mother. The through line of this book was people trying to fix things, to save people who were gone. I just found it sweet.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction

imds's review against another edition

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Biphobia, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Kidnapping

kurumipanda's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

A unique and disorienting story, with three narratives that switch without warning, with nested stories within them. Despite the odd events and storytelling method, it feels grounded and the themes feel clear and consistent. Focuses on Asian American identity, family grief/relationships, capitalism/corporate corruption, and separating art from the artist. Criticisms of society and culture are spot on and quite funny, and the story is moving and fascinating to unravel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical content, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

booksthatburn's review against another edition

I like the way the narrative is layered, and the commentary on the role of media in the formation of identity, especially when that media was not ideal representation, all of that was very interesting, and is part of why I kept reading for as long as I did. but either most of what’s in the description for the book doesn’t come in to play until the second half, or I’m missing something huge in the story. I’m not sure which, and I’m ultimately ended up not finishing it. I think this is the first DNF that I might want to revisit later when I’m in a better headspace, that time just isn’t right now. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent

ewmod's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

A really solid novel, though the ending is a bit breakneck compared to the comparatively well-paced rest of the story. I think it sort of obfuscates what it's mean to be about, and anyone who is looking for a thriller or mystery is going to be a bit disappointed. See: character-driven.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent