Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Apaixonei-me Pela Esperança by Lancali

73 reviews

eva_gavin5's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

mkr_08's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicide, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit and Alcohol

ash_cash0's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

xoxocm's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.25

wow...let me sit on this one..

(I know it's long just bear with me please)

Okay, I sat. Let's start with the positives, I do think this book is worth the read, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SIGN TO READ THIS BOOK, THIS IS IT. This is a beautifully written book. I got extremely attached to the characters and audibly cried at least seven times. It's sad and real and really forces you take a step back and look at things with a different perspective. 

The only reason this book is a 4.25 stars instead of 5 is because (1) felt the author's writing was extremely poetic, metaphorical, and flowery, almost to a point of fault. It felt like every line was a quote that you should be annotating. I think you should know that after listening to lancali talk, I have come to realize that that is just her natural way of speaking. Also, the big reveal at the end wasn't my favorite but the 200 pages leading up to it were heart-wrenching.

(2) From the beginning, the main character and her love interest werent my favorite characters in the world. Not to say I didn't like them, I truly did but Neo, Coeur, and Sony really tugged at my heartstrings. I felt like I was being told about their immense love for each other but I didn't feel it. There was never a moment in the book where I was giddy and kicking my feet for them to get together. It was more of "this person is the bane of my existence" the very first time they met. 

This review is not meant to scare you away from reading it, it is a great book, these are just slight things that pop up in the book that pushed my rating down from a 5 star. To not end this on a negative note I loved this book. The positives outway the negatives by far and the problems I mention in this review are not as big of a deal as I'm making them out to be. So have fun and grab some tissues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia

beccavg00's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Rape and Vomit

t0ast_and_t3a's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Before you read the rest of this review, pleasepleaseplease check trigger warnings. This is a VERY heavy book, and I recommend being in the right headspace to read it. I would not recommend reading this if you are struggling with loss or depression—they are avid themes throughout. 

That aside, this is a story of grief, loss, hope, and love. On the prose level, this is written beautifully—especially if you love metaphorical language and imagery. The characters are all unique and individualized, and you will never be the same after C and Neo (and if you are, well, lucky you not falling victim to emotional tragedy). 

You will be confused at times when it comes to the narrator, and I can’t stress this enough—THAT IS THE POINT. Will you like the narrator by the end? Maybe not, but this isn’t just their story. 

I listened to the audio version of this, and the fact that it was read by Lancali makes it that much more emotional. I knew very little about this book going in, but I couldn’t stop listening, even when I was left with more questions. 

The structure isn’t perfect, and it messes with the pacing some, but the characters, themes, and language make up for that. 

Again, check the trigger warnings. I am not joking when I say there is some parts where I had to pause and take a f*cking breath. This is set in a hospital with a few different sick characters who all have different relationships with others and themselves, so it is meant to be emotional.

I’ll list the main TW here (since I post the review on Goodreads as well). 
Grief, child abuse (shown through bruises and injuries mostly, but there is a instance where there is some details), anorexia, self harm, child illnesses, abandonment, and one paragraph mention of rape (not graphic or detailed, just mentioned). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, Terminal illness, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide attempt

Minor: Rape

lilareads5678's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

if you want to be happy don’t read this book.
This was the saddest book I have read by far. But one of my favorites. You don’t learn much about the main character but in the end it all comes together. This book had the best quotes ever. It was also so poetically beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I wanted a book that was going to wreck me and I certainly found it. This is such a devastating, gorgeous, fucked up love story. It’s a story about friendship, about growing up, about becoming who you’re meant to be, about fighting off our demons. While a little abstract in some ways, this book is so powerful in its messaging about how we should exist on this planet and is such a phenomenal reminder about what is most important. It reminded me in some ways of “The Book Thief” by Marcus Zusak, which is another top five read for me. I’ve cried so much reading this that my eyes are barely able to see. Highly, highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

tyghe_bright's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

From the outset, I knew I'd love this book, even if the story was imperfect. The *writing*. The prose in this little book is STUNNING. It's made me catch my breath several times.  The writing is impressionistic, which I *love*, but may not be for folks who prefer narrative plot-driven novels.1

The prose remains strong throughout, though not quite as strong when she's focused on plot. And the plot often suffers from "that's not how it works" with unrealistic portrayals of life in a hospital. Something the author knows about, because she's struggled with autoimmune disease. I also really felt the author's youth. It feels a little immature at times. 
 

There's a "twist" about the narrator which is handled a little clumsily. It's hinted at heavily, and then explained explicitly, where it would have been better left more open. 

Some reviews say it needed to be more accurate and realistic... but I disagree. If I were her editor, I would have encouraged her to go MORE abstract and fantastical. Her work shines most when she focuses on emotion and sensation.

Overall, it's a beautiful, if slightly imperfect, book with lovely, tender, tragic relationships. I still recommend it and will look for more by Lancali. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

sneha_sharma's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

It took me some time to grasp the story and build interest. The plot is slow in the beginning, speeds up a bit and maintains the same pace throughout, until the end. Also the dialogues are too poetic, and sort of hinder the flow of reading.
A major thing that should be mentioned somewhere in the beginning or on the back of the book is trigger warnings.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Rape