Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Notte americana by Marisha Pessl

58 reviews

ashtheaudiomancer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This has been on my TBR shelf for awhile, but I moved it to the top of the list on a recommendation. It's fascinating! I like the unusual formatting and inclusion of blog posts, photos, police reports, and other tidbits that make the world feel really fleshed out and real.

I'm not sure what else to say about it because almost everything is a spoiler. It's a murder mystery . . . kind of. It's an exploration of the depths of conspiracy theories and cult-like followings that get attached to certain celebrities . . . kind of. It's a deconstruction of the typical private investigator character type . . . kind of.

It's a thick and challenging read, and leaves things a little ambiguous, and a little meta, at the end, but the time commitment is worth it. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, and Suicide

Minor: Child death

A central theme in this story follows plot beats and details from a fictional filmmaker whose work (to me) sounds similar to the Gialli. So there's a lot of descriptions of (again fictional) films with similar levels of gore and violence.

kristareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child death and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

nostoat's review against another edition

3.0

Here's the thing. I don't think this book was good but it was extremely compelling, and the elements of mixed media were fun. However. The main character is weirdly misogynistic, considering this book was written by a woman as far as I can tell, and there's also casual racism sprinkled throughout. The narrative voice wasn't off-putting enough that I DNF'd but it did have me constantly looking at the back flap to be SURE it wasn't written by a man because of the constant misogyny. And the way the book flirted with "the inherent madness of genius" and all of that bullshit. It was compelling though....

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Terminal illness

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

othersociologist's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Suicide, and Violence

telliot's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was creepy AF and I liked the themes and the ambiguous ending. I just couldn't get behind some of the language.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Transphobia

Moderate: Cancer, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Car accident

cowboyaj's review against another edition

2.0

i'm sorry...but he literally said the chicken in a chinese restaurant was PROBABLY CAT??
man fuck this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Transphobia

alicevicini's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

 

When I bought the book I knew that it was a long one but while I was reading it, it felt even longer! 

The plot is intriguing and the multimedia elements were a fun touch that really made me feel part of the story and therefore kept me hooked to the book. 

At times, though, the book felt too long… it could have been at least 200/300 pages shorter. 

The ending could have been explained a bit better but I was pretty satisfied with it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

cossenbeck's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Transphobia

Moderate: Forced institutionalization