Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Luckenbooth by Jenni Fagan

14 reviews

georgiesutton's review against another edition

3.5

I thought this sounded intriguing. I liked the glimpses into the different lives in Lukenbooth Close but I did find the plot a little lacking. This was only a problem as I really really didn't care for some of the characters (William - what was the point of his chapters?) whereas others I loved. This was almost more like short stories in that regard. It was a bit spicier than I expected! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

theninth's review against another edition

challenging inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

uncreativeoops's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

The format of this novel is really cool (one person per decade who gets 3 chapters and they all live in the same apartment building) but it's also disappointing because you don't get a lot of time with each character. Some I found less interesting and some could have gotten their own book. But I liked the variety in characters and the topics that were adressed. Sometimes the messaging felt a little too heavy-handed though. There is kind of an overarching story, which is a bit at odds with the smaller stories (they are mostly about the historical period but now and then the devil's daughter shows up), but if you accept that and are not looking for a story that is purely grounded in reality but has magical realism (?), it is very fun. Also very atmospheric descriptions of Edinburgh that made me want to visit again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War

Minor: Domestic abuse

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

hq_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.5

I found this book to be pretty average - it was a strange read and is actually really hard to rate. I can see how some people would LOVE this book (English literature buffs), but for me, it was like an amalgamation of short stories lumped together connected by a location, rather than a novel. That's fine, but as a complete work of fiction, I enjoyed some stories more than others, therefore affecting the overall rating. I found my mind wandering at times and many stories felt unresolved so I was left dissatisfied. 

Character narratives I enjoyed - Queen Bee, Agnes, Ivor and Dot. 
Character narratives that were okay - Jessie and Flora
Character narratives I did not enjoy - Levi and William
.......I almost completely forgot about Ivy's story which I think speaks volumes. 

It was fast-paced read despite the unusual writing style. The descriptions of Edinburgh were very atmospheric and I believe the author captured the haunting nature of Edinburgh very accurately (as an Edinburgh native and resident, I can confirm). The book also covers themes around sexuality, self acceptance and misogyny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content

katiewhocanread's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Cannibalism

beccajdb's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

Dating, yes. Transgressive, yes. But also surprisingly tedious after a while. The clunky injections of historical research and period set-dressing make it infuriatingly choppy. The William Burroughs chapters are the worst - they read like someone showing off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

beccamarriner's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

From Part 1 I had such high hopes for this book but threnody I read, the less engaged I became. From my expectations of the blurb, I feel like some individual stories of the book could have been eliminated and the outcome would have been the same. There were some I loved as they featured the dark, twisted side to Edinburgh that I was hoping for but ultimately I don’t think the building of no. 10 luckenbooth close was enough of a common thread to link stories together. It felt odd to me that each story had a specified year as I felt they were often overlooked unless there was a mention of war of lava lamps. As someone who lives in Edinburgh, I loved the visuals of the city that appeared in Fagan’s writing as I believe she captured the closes and Christmas chaos but it wasn’t enough overall for me to rate this book higher or become excited about reading more chapters.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Sexual content and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and War

lexa_oxford's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

This book is a really interesting one where the house is practically a main character itself, and we follow its multiple tenants across a century. I found some of the stories much more engaging than others, and almost wished that a couple of the stories had been cut to expand on the ones that really told an over-arching message which Fagan really wanted to get across. Also she did a lot of telling rather than showing, which I felt was a shame.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Child death and Alcohol

Minor: Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

alisonannk's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Suicide attempt