Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks

12 reviews

potassiumk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

megstro's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Gore, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Abortion, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

minniepauline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a fascinating exploration of how fear changes people and societies. It’s prescient, too. Written in 2001, it’s an apt book for our own times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

melissamalicious's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Medical content, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

whimsical_adelaide's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow. Just... wow. This was a great book and I'm so glad I read it, but it was BRUTAL! I was not surprised to learn that the author is a journalist who has spent time reporting in war-torn countries. I had to make sure to have uplifting things happening outside my reading so it didn't put me in a depressed mood. There were a lot of gruesome descriptions of violence and death.

Year of Wonders is about so much more than battling the sickness of the plague in a small village that quarantined to keep it from spreading outside its walls. It's about how it affected the people psychologically, how it caused them to turn on each other, and also brought moments of wonder.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

gail_dancer's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

The beautiful prose of this timepieced novel caressed me as a welcome change from other recent modern novels I’d read. Anna was a complex and likeable lead character whose personal growth spanned large from start to finish. Some unexpected and rash circumstances near the end of the book disappointed me, but all in all  an enjoyable interesting read. The situation of how the village experienced and dealt with the Plague was eerily familiar post-Covid-19. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emeraldcityreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

Minor: Alcoholism

s_mivsek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use, Self harm, Excrement, and Murder

amandareads23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

cptnstphy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

Brooks' prose was gorgeous and brought the reader along as if they were right there in the village, such that it was like watching a film (if not for all the grisly and demonic details, I would want to see this film). Despite the reader knowing how the book would generally end (most villagers dead of the plague) she still manages to create suspense and craft a twist ending none could have predicted (in a dazzling, exciting, and satisfying way, in my opinion). The characters were well-crafted, some with unexpected nuance, although our hero was perhaps too Good and without many interesting flaws. Year of Wonders gripped me from beginning to end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape and Slavery