Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Nothing but the Rain by Naomi Salman

3 reviews

schnaucl's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

I enjoyed it, although the more I think about it the less reliable I find the narrator.  

I can't imagine how terrifying it would be if any time you came into contact with water it cost you some of your memory.   And how long would it take to figure out that's what happened, especially if you lived alone?

While I understand why people would want to try and leave, their plan to do so was never quite clear to me other than maybe they can't shoot all of us?  Except it seemed like they all expected to make it past the military barricade but without explaining how.  Or what they planned to do once they were past it.    It's set in modern times and I would imagine it's hard to prove you are who you say you are without some kind of proof.  I get that a lack of birth certificate for the child isn't the most pressing concern in that situation but eventually it'll come up.

I also wonder how many people deliberately stood outside in the rain and deliberately lost themselves, particularly if they thought they couldn't make it past the military blockade.   Would that be better or worse than being shot?   The death would certainly be prolonged and death by starvation isn't pretty but if you're not aware enough to know that's what's happening or to be aware of your hunger maybe that's kinder?

As to the ending, if time is of the essence, I'm not sure it makes sense that she let the child cry for her mother for three minutes.   It certainly makes for a dramatic end though.  I'm also wondering how old the kid was supposed to be when she was allowed to read the journal/diary.

Anyway, it's a really interesting concept.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Confinement

Minor: Suicide, Animal death, Child death, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is very bleak horror, with minimal nasty and much slow creeping dread. The viewpoint is very tightly first person--as diary entries--until the end, when it moves to second, and that works incredibly well in ratcheting up the emotional resonance of the story.

It is a story about forgetting, about an apocalypse--or maybe a pandemic--where one can survive, but not thrive. About the slow erosion of memory and the loss of self that goes with that. 

There is no logic to what is going on, no explanation. Laverne, who is writing the diary, doesn't know the why. They know some of the what is happening in the now, and some memory of the bad things that have happened, but there is no indication that this is all the bad, just all the bad that they have remembered.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Dementia, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Kidnapping