Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lute by Jennifer Marie Thorne

11 reviews

nancydrew023's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

4.25

Jennifer Thorne does an excellent job introducing main characters who could so easily be unreliable. I won’t say if that exemplifies Nina. But I love how she creates secrets and tensions and allows the narrator to feel like maybe she IS the problem. For us to do the work of deciding. And then after the climactic event, the little traits that we never noticed paint a much more vivid picture. The details are great. And I loved the way Nina thought.

The Day built so well, but the novel never drifted as far into horror as I’d have liked. Also there are no predictions of death a la Final Destination the characters don’t “cheat death” by avoiding a particular fate. It reminded more of The Cabin in the Woods. [spoiler for movie:

The way they bet on who would die and which characters would trigger which events. And basically the conclusion was foregone but how the story played out depended on the individual players

.] But even so, it was very enjoyable. I went in thinking it would be one thing, which it was not. But I really enjoyed the soft ghostly story nonetheless.

Lute was a haunting story about community and resilience and love. About faith and trust and holding onto one another during dark times. And it's also a reminder that you should more fully understand someone before you marry them. Especially a man.

Does the dog die?

NO!! :)

P.S. fuck Hugh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Death of parent

shaunashares's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Grief, and Suicide attempt

ayngeleastevens's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and War

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Dementia, and War

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

1.0

One of the main problems with this book is that it doesn’t feel like it knows what it’s supposed to be. Is it horror? Is it romance? Is it YA? Is it adult? I don’t know, and obviously neither does the author. 

Nina married a lord on this island in the UK where 7 people die every year as a sacrifice to the island itself. Why? Don’t know. How? We also don’t know. The island chooses at random apparently or you can pick your own adventure so to speak and volunteer but only if the island approves. Even the premise is confusing and doesn’t really seem to know the rules. Also this is set in some weird future where there’s a war going on. What does this add to the story? Absolutely nothing!! The war is also never explained, nothing is explained except the tithe itself, and even that is done in a weird flashback sequence that’s poorly written. 

Also, this was marketed as an adult debut but the writing, the characters, the plot, the themes, the execution, all of it screamed amateur YA novel. I honestly think the only reason this isn’t listed YA, is because there are two sex scenes in the book, both of which are random and not good. 

I did not enjoy this book at all, nothing was done well and I had to force myself to finish it. I wouldn’t really recommend this to anyone because I don’t think there’s much to get out of it on any sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

mirificmoxie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

brigettes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

thriller, dark and mysterious. a very unique concept. great twist at the end that I only guessed a chapter or two before it happened. a bit gory and hard to read at times, touches on some dark topics and there was lots of constan  tension (the attempts at reprise from this weren't great), but overall a good thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Car accident, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Gaslighting

Minor: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and War

leighsnerdlife's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Blood, Grief, and Murder

bookishbutch's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm and Suicide