Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan

12 reviews

diegor's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Lyrical, heart-breaking, funny and yet tragic. A worthy read about friendship, the meaning and sense of this bizzarre thing we cal "life" and some bloody good music.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

shaleen64's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

The book is split into two halves and reads like two different books. Whilst I have to say I didn’t really enjoy the first half it was certainly necessary to building the picture of Tully and James’s friendship. For those who better relate to the era it would be more engaging. 

However, the second half is beautifully written and is overwhelmingly emotional, forcing you to feel such a range of emotions in relatively few pages. This alone, in my opinion, makes it a four star read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness, Sexism, and Vomit

crypticmetall's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

I picked this book up because I wanted to understand men... soft gently complex and utterly nuance men. Male friendship with a deep innate love for one another that isn't normalized in media. Seeing their story fleshed out in a way that felt genuine, understood and with a bittersweet end was a wonderfully sad experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

annatroughton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

Minor: Death of parent

pkc's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-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? No

4.0

This was an achingly sad book in how it ends and the inevitability of the ending but a really sweet story of a nontoxic male relationship growing up in Thatcher ravaged Britain. I love the protagonists, though I found their dialogue reminiscent of Renton and Sick Boy (though the plots of Trainspotting and Mayflies couldn’t be less comparable) and it annoyed me slightly in places. Tully’s wife Anna really bothered me in places too, but with the subject matter, O’Hagan does a really good job of the light and dark of such a complicated debate. I will also say it was gorgeously written despite my occasional gripes with the dialogue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

emilyrowanstudio's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad 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

5.0

I am ruined for all future books. Somebody hold me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

alisonannk's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Xenophobia

danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.75

I liked it. I may have even liked it a lot. The characters are fun. The prose is sharp, witty, and buoyant. But I didn’t love it. I can’t get into it too much without spoilers, but I’ll say it’s a book with an ending that is a forgone conclusion (intentionally). And for me, books structured in this way really need to harness that forgone ending to transform their characters through the book’s inevitable conclusion. Otherwise, for me, there’s nothing to hold onto and no surprises in the narrative. For me, the characters largely stayed the same from start to finish. And the relationships were fun and dynamic for sure. But without some way in which the march toward the book’s ending fundamentally altered them or their relational dynamics, it was hard for me to attach to the story. However, again, the characters were wonderful and I think the author did a great job at getting us invested in them individually, just not in the story they were being challenged with, if that makes sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, and Death of parent

likerealpeople's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Death

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent