Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

15 reviews

morenowagain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Abortion

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Grief, Drug abuse, Addiction, Suicide, Medical content, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Drug use

Minor: Car accident

3mi1y's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

This book was very short and an extremely fast read. All in all it’s a great book with an interesting writing style. I liked that we only get little insights of what’s going on in her life

Spoiler

and the events that led to her commitment to a mental hospital

. That’s what made the book different from others and therefore pretty special in my opinion. :) It even felt a bit like I’d be reading her diary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Abortion, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Grief

ktkeps's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Physical abuse, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Suicide, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Mental illness

colinede's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Abortion, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Gaslighting, and Pregnancy

amyrezende's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Addiction, and Emotional abuse

madisoncarter's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

i tore through this book. the writing style and format was absolute catnip for me. after getting stuck on a few books that i wasn’t inspired to read, this one had me chucking in my bag everywhere the last week. everyone is terrible and i know i’m in the minority with how much i appreciated maria. she is an extremely battered woman and going through these moments with her was heartwrenching but in the end, worthy of the utmost respect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

sophee_568's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

This book put me in a dreadful mood. The most noticeable theme in the book is depression. The main character is Maria Wyatt, a wannabe actress who divorces her husband, the director of her only two movies. They have a daughter who suffers from an unnamed illness and is hospitalized in some kind of institution. The book follows her life and her interaction with a group of people, whom I can't say are friends of hers. She is noticeably depressed, drinks a lot, drives her corvette on the highway every day, and is in love with a man she cannot have. As we follow her life and the decline of her mental well-being, we're taking a glimpse into the microscopic scale of American society in the 60s. This is quite the bleak novel, but that serves the purpose of having the reader experience what it is like to be clinically depressed (which is why I had to take a long walk after finishing this book). I must admit I didn't like nor understand this book until about 60% in. I thought it was boring, unsatisfying, empty, but then it hit me that that was the whole point and that made the book better. This is the second Didion book I read, the first being The Year of Magical Thinking, and I prefer this one. Somehow this book has more soul in it, even though it's fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abortion, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Grief and Homophobia

emilycm's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

this was everything i could have wanted it to be and more. and instant new favorite in life and of didion's work. she gets the heat of california so well, and i felt that this novel elevated that intensity in the heat in the dynamics between her characters even more than in her essays. maria was a tricky character, but after a few chapters, i was hooked into who she was and what the game she was playing was. the secondary characters (of which i think california itself acts as a character in this and all of didion's work) too got me intrigued, and i thought their complexities to be chilling. i can see why this leaves people with mixed feelings, but for me, it was the right amount of ambiguity and tension that i felt committed. this is so raw in its nature, and it comes at you full force if you let it. i really loved this, and i'm still digesting all my feelings, but this...this was delicious.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Cursing, Vomit, Mental illness, and Grief

katelynleonardi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Grief, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence

margztgz's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I expected to enjoy this novel more than I did but it was an interesting read nonetheless and I finished it very quickly. I felt a lot of empathy towards the main character as a woman essentially lost in so much of her life. Certain scenes were difficult to read but so well written and encapsulating. I thought the language was good at keeping attention yet left me in a bleak mood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Blood, Drug use, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Alcohol