Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

31 reviews

cornfusedsnow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault

strawberrymoonceci's review against another edition

informative reflective

4.5

This was an incredibly interesting book. She paints such a vivid picture in all the scenes, even the ones she didn't witness. I was very curious about the name of the book, I was also curious about the importance of this taxonomist. It was a gripping read, fascinating really. The audiobook version is wonderful, and I found the little nugget included at the end so heartwarming. This definitely made me want to read more book about natural history.

I absolutely did not expect the plot twists to include murder and eugenics! I think it's very interesting how Robert Starr Jordan went from allegedly covering up a murder, feeling wracked with guilt about it, to making eugenics his new purpose in life. What an absolute monster. The book is a masterclass in how to write a villain. In the beginning you hear mostly praise for him, there are definitely criticisms but you can see the author choosing to focus in his great capacity for perseverance, only for it to take a dark change, and for him to end up being responsible for the death, torture and mutilation (amongs other things) of tens of thousands in the US alone. Also, the US was the first country to make eugenics into national law. Which is so interesting considering the national narrative about it role in WW2. Not the least surprising though. I am surprised at how engaging this book was, considering I didn't like the author at all. Her writing is great, but she did not pass the vibe check. Also, fish dont exist as a category, that's the answer to the title. And Robert Starr Jordan can suck on that!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Infertility, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Child death and Death

val_so_'s review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

brttbwrs's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I would give this 100 stars if I could. Beautifully written, and a hopefulness that carries gravity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

maddiearthur's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Genocide, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation

Moderate: Biphobia and Child death

Minor: Self harm

mirto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

If I could give this 6 stars, I would. Brilliant book. I would even say Lulu Miller created a whole new genre. Memoir, biography, essay, nature book, history book, sociology, psychology, murder mystery, whatever, you name it. Made me feel so many things, all at once. I learnt a lot, from science to giving myself the life I want. Why Fish Don't Exist will stay with me forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and War

aspenpastore's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Incredible 5 star book! just gonna leave those here and filling my favorite quotes in a few. The book version of repeatedly getting the rug pulled out from under me. go read it... it's a quick one!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical trauma

thehutonfowlslegs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

things found in this book:
• fish
• actually, fish don’t exist, so no fish
• icthyology and taxonomy 
• existentialism 
• the life of david starr jordan 
• the life of lulu miller
• murder 
• love
• loss 
• darwinism 
• eugenics 
• attempts to bring order to an ever-chaotic world 
• the questioning of everything you think you know
• a single footnote 
• a sound clip of the author teaching her child how to say “fish” (provided your reading medium is the audiobook) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism and Murder

antoniaodernein's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Violence

katconig's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

An absolute delight of a book that finds hope in the most unexpected ways. It's the first thing to bring me a bit of hope in a long time and I desperately needed it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death