Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

22 reviews

michaelion's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

I had no expectations other than I knew it would fuck me up. Any story about mothers and daughters. Especially women of color! So complex!! Too real!!!

I don't like reviews with quotes from the piece of media but I had to stop reading to make note of this masterpiece and let it simmer for a while: "And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, she still came out the same way! Maybe it is because she was born to me and she was born a girl. And I was born to my mother and I was born a girl. All of us are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going the same way."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, War, Grief, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, and Classism

Minor: Self harm, Animal death, Rape, Xenophobia, Blood, Pedophilia, Abortion, and Homophobia

stephyrm's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Abandonment, Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, and Sexism

melancholymegs's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Racism, Grief, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, War, and Death of parent

Moderate: Classism, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident, Eating disorder, and Body shaming

betag1013's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, War, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Violence, Abandonment, Grief, Sexism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny

ehmannky's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

A reflective look at the relationship between mothers and daughters, specially immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters, and all the things that can't be translated or communicated across generational lines. . The episodic and sort of inconclusive nature of the novel and the events is not really my cup of literary tea, though I am able to recognize why it is considered a classic by many. Smarter people than I have written critiquing the novel, so I'll leave my review here

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Rape and War

emi_momo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Grief, Child death, Abandonment, and Sexism

Minor: Death of parent and Eating disorder

toffishay's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a fun, sad, emotional tour-de-force about the relationships between mothers and daughters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Death, Death of parent, and Racism

Minor: Rape, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Eating disorder, Abortion, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, and Suicide

damiscous's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

The first time I half-assedly read this book, I was sixteen and reading it as an assignment. I'm so very glad I came back to it. With the passage of time, we mature, we learn, we grow, and we begin to see our parents more as people than simply parents. In my current stage of life, this book has touched me in a way it didn't before, especially in regards to my relationship with my own mother as I search for my own way through life. There's some disconnect for me, admittedly, as the book is also heavily centered around Chinese culture, but that difference in culture also has many parallels with my own. Though the book is dated, the complexities of mother-daughter relationships is a timeless topic that Amy Tan explores in a sincere, emotional manner. I laughed, I cried, and I cringed - what else would you want from a novel examining one of the deepest of human connections? I feel that this is a novel I need to come back to later in life to further understand and appreciate the story that Tan has shared with us.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Sexism, Child death, Racism, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia, War, and Rape

ksuazo94's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Grief, War, Racial slurs, and Pedophilia

Minor: Abortion and Emotional abuse

pobaw24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Death of parent, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Suicide