Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

9 reviews

evenchicago's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

kegifford's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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

4.5

Lauren Groff 's writing is gorgeous. At times reading this book felt like reading poetry, I had to stop to take in the beauty of a sentence or image. The story of a young woman struggling to survive in a long ago wilderness is compelling and can be hard to read at times. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, and Gore

brownikins's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What an interesting, lovely, and bleak book. I found myself continuously rooting for the protagonist. This wasn’t just a tale of a teenage girl’s journey through the wilds, but also a journey through her existential and religious crises. The style, prose, and writing left me in awe and so vividly illustrated the scene, the journey, and the girl’s past and present story. To me, this novel is a piece of art. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence

theabee's review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence, Torture, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Colonisation

hmatt's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Lauren Groff's prose, as always, is viscerally descriptive and beautiful. This is such an interesting follow-up in juxtaposition to Matrix, as well: The main characters are both Christian women who are both, in a sense, left to fend for themselves in a remote place, but they are very, very, different.

I am a person who likes books that don't have a whole lot of plot, so I was fine with that aspect - but beware if you're not. There are some introspections the girl had that feel a bit too on-the-nose for me (i.e. a bit too "woke", lol), but otherwise I found this a fun, short, atmospheric read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Child abuse, Confinement, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Death, Gore, Ableism, Terminal illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Death of parent

elficus's review

adventurous challenging dark sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Ableism, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Murder, Rape, Vomit, and Excrement

ellbutler's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cannibalism, Vomit, and Excrement

ninjamuse's review

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Child death

Moderate: Rape, Classism, Colonisation, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

sineadherself's review

adventurous challenging dark sad 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? Yes

3.5

Plot: It is a book in which both nothing and all life happens. That is to say it is a book about survival. Ostensibly it is about surviving the wild but as the reader journeys through with the main character we learn that survival has been at the centre of her life since birth; it is the only work she has ever had.

Character: Ninety percent of the story we are with the main character, Zed. Though throughout other people from her past and present are described.

Reading Experience: This is a writer's book, not a reader's. You can see the writer enjoying herself on the page, which in itself is a lovely thing. But ultimately, it becomes a slog for the reader to stay the course with her.

Overall: A solid piece of work by a talented writer.

Stars: 3.5⭐

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Excrement, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Child death, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

If you are weak of stomach this book will be a test. Surviving the wilds is not easy and is very often disgusting. There are also some scenes that are genuinely disturbing. Also, the language which is used to describe "the child Bess" is repeatedly ablest and dehumanising. I tried to keep my mind open as I read the book but I came away at the end not understanding why that choice was made - it didn't reflect the opinion of the main character, for example. So it comes off more that it is a sloppy, ignorant take by the author. But that doesn't feel right either as that wouldn't have been my impression of her before. Whatever it was, read with caution.