Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life

Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

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

115 reviews

quarcusrubrum's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

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zenlena's review

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funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

I really liked this style of writing. Loved the authors allegories and metaphors, I will forever remember the phrase "cosmically impotent fist" and the vision of toads and eagles wearing plaid shirts.

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jebecky's review against another edition

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4.0

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chamomiledaydreams's review against another edition

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challenging informative

4.0

I highly recommend this book to other people who went to a school named after David Starr Jordan. The one I attended has since been renamed, and this book answers the question of why that happened. I went in expecting Jordan to be a proponent of eugenics, but the murder cover-up was a complete surprise.

Additionally, the way that Lulu Miller juxtaposes her own life with Jordan's is fascinating and emotionally compelling. I can relate to the way that she latches onto a figure (fictional or otherwise) whom she believes will save her from her own troubles, and I appreciate how this book tackles the issue of how we respond when somebody we once admired turns out to be hateful and cruel.

I'm also very pleased by the quality of the audiobook, narrated by Miller herself, which features an audio-exclusive finale of her son identifying a fish. It made me smile when Miller turned to her wife afterward and asked if she had anything to say to the listeners, to which her wife replied, "They've heard enough." (Just under five hours long is pretty short for an audiobook, in my experience, and I would have gladly listened to much more of this story. But Miller covered everything succinctly, and I'm satisfied with the end result.)

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janeblue's review

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challenging dark funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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mimi_bookster's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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asterlee's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

This book was a warm, brutal, gentle, gut wrenching hug I didn’t know I needed

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alisaur's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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jillyclaire23's review against another edition

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fast-paced

5.0

I’m speechless. Wow. I love the logic of this book. It’s a beautiful long essay allegedly about fish but actually about finding purpose and meaning in life. Definitely a heavy read but ultimately so realistically hopeful. It is so lush and full of facts - not just a bunch of generic motivational cliches, which I appreciate. The twists and suspenseful writing kept me intrigued. Such a rewarding read. The thesis the author comes to at the end is so beautiful it made me tear up!

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stoolboom's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

It’s all there in the epilogue for me, which of course wouldn’t have packed the same punch without everything that came before. Maybe there’s a metaphor in there.

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