Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

136 reviews

leximarie06's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was an incredibly hard read, but that just goes to show just how raw and real the emotions you get from it are. it was a tragic story but it was also a beautiful one, it shone light on issues that were due a shining and the writing was perfect. each scene was incredibly raw and i caught myself having to take multiple breaks in between scenes just to recover from the text. i dont regret reading this book one bit. it was very hard to get through but very much worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

lbarnobirobinson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

At first I was like "YA? 😒" but after staying up late to read the second half of this book, I'm now heartbroken

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Classism

ghostlyprince's review

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Infertility, Racism, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Dementia

lorraine19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely heart wrenching. The realism of this book just made it that much more tragic. It will make you uncomfortable. It talks about difficult issues surrounding race, homophobia, early sexualization, and abuse. But that's what makes this book important. Honestly have had few books that have impacted me in such a way. 
Not for the faint hearted. Difficult but important read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Excrement, Dementia, and Alcohol

Minor: Blood and Vomit

Not blatant racism perse but systematic racism/classism, neglect, some discussion on child services/police

gretchlikestoread's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? N/A

5.0

I just finished this and I’m still sobbing. 6/5 stars, I loved this book so much. Highly recommend the audiobook. 

This novel follows an 8th grade Claudia who returns home from summer vacation to find that her best friend is nowhere to be found. The book jumps between past and present and is guaranteed to have you weeping at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

frombookstoreaders3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Tiffany D Jackson knows how to take you on an emotional rollercoaster and drive you to desiring more of her writing.  This is a heavy hitter so be prepared to read this in intervals.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Grief

pagesofplatypus's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a book that should be in every classroom. It is haunting and unrelenting. It is a book that will stick with you.

This is my second book from Tiffany D. Jackson, and no one can put you into the minds of characters like Ms. Jackson. The split povs between time kept me on the edge if my seat as I tried to piece together exactly what happened and when.

There's definitely a resigned knowledge of how this will end yet the reveal is still a gut punch. For me everything about Monday and her life was just utterly heartbreaking. I wanted to scream at most of those grown-ups to shut up and listen and do something.

You want things to have been so different than they were. And the reveal and aftermath is this horridly perfect mix of unsettling, infuriatiing, depressing, and healing.

If there's anything to take from this book, just pay attention. Pay attention to your friends. Pay attention to your classmates. Pay attention to the kids on your block. Just pay attention.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying and Lesbophobia

mikathereviewer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

‘A part of me was glad Monday wasn’t named Friday. It would’ve been too tragic.’

- Claudia



Most things I would like to say about this book would be spoilers and since I aim for spoiler free reviews I won't include them, hence making the review shorter than my usual reviews.

First of all, I really liked the plot (also the heavy themes were interesting) and how we got confusing timelines was (I think at least) supposed to foreshadow a certain plot twist which I thought to be quite cool. Also, I got 2 ideas how the time line in this book might work (I added it at the end of my review)

Another thing I liked was how not every character was likeable and not everything was perfect and we also got characters that were not one dimensional and we got more than enough story. I really liked the time leaps as they showed us the relationship with Monday and Claudia before the story started where Monday was already gone. 

The healing process seems realistic and isn't downplayed. We don't get a 'after a week I recovered' kinda recovery we get one where it's open for the reader to decide how long it took. And we also still see while trying to recover that they still take steps back, but of course steps forward too. 

Really disliked the foreshadowing as this ruined a bit the fun for me as I already knew the plot twists before they even came. Only one was there I didn't know of, but that was rather as I misunderstood the foreshadowing as Claudia being just nosy and jealous for absolute no reason.

Another thing I disliked which I mainly noticed at the end of the story was how the characters didn't always stay the same. One moment they were bad and the next they were good and kind again. I get it that not every person has always the same moods and we can also change as a person, but the switching was so out of control and at some point just didn't make any sense anymore. I really liked Monday at first until we got told stuff about her from April which I'm sure were true as I'm certain that it was a plot twist too, especially with that one thing that stood in that book, but then in the end we get a Monday that always 'loved' Claudia and saw her 'always' as a soulbond sister. And the way Claudia's mum didn't want to listen to her own child when she tried to explain where she was or was over controlling by letting Claudia ALWAYS leave breadcrumbs (letting her mum know where she was). And Claudia wasn't even better. I just say March the first The After, February the 2nd The After. And April? She wasn't good either. She knew what she has done. Jealousy consumed her. That's a sociopath. The only cool character throughout the entire book was actually Claudia's Dad. He was chill. Had reasons for disagreeing. And ALWAYS took great care of his child. 





Here is a quick guide how I understood the time line and how you could use it too as many users said that they got confused with it

September 
The Before (Before September)
The After (IN September)
One Year Before The Before (One Year ago shortly before September)

Example: 27. August > (The) BEFORE September
3. September > IN September
One Year Before the Before > from 27. August 2018 to 27. August 2017 

All dates are only examples and we don't get a direct number or year date. We only get 'The Before' which I assume means before the month we are in and 'The After' which might mean exactly inside the month as the next chapter is already  AFTER the previous month so that wouldn't make sense. The year leap I think is 1-2 (depends on chapter) years from the same month and date before. 

This is only a theory and the words can actually mean something different, but it helped me with the time lines for this book!

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The only month that didn't match the guide is December so I have a 2nd theory that we get the story pieces on purpose wrong so the titles are only meant to help us to understand in which order they are and it hasn't to do with before, after or in the month. 



I also have a book guide for those who want to read books that are similar to this one.

Other books mentioned in this book:

1. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
2. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
4. Push by Sapphire

These book all include either inc3st, sexual harrasment or even r@pe so make sure to read their content warnings before reading!

18. July 2024

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Torture, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Dementia, Abandonment, and Alcohol

forkindope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Grief, Murder, and Lesbophobia