Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

6 reviews

avacadosocks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

novelyon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.5

The development of Marisol and Rey's relationship was sweet and I enjoyed their parallel arcs as they both discover how they should each tackle their own grief and trauma in a healthy way. The sisterly dialogue between Marisol and Gabi was written very well. The greatest strength of this book was the conversations; each character had a distinct voice and personality, and it was always a joy to just read about the characters talking.
While I enjoyed the characters' arcs and relationships, I found the plot itself to be a bit slow (especially in the beginning, with multiple chapters explaining how the grief transfer works, which doesn't feel very important as this book is very light sci-fi anyway), and the themes could've been touched on with a little more depth. For a novel where the protagonist is a brown immigrant being exploited for a privileged white girl, it lets off the characters that caused and perpetuated that exploitation surprisingly, and disappointingly, lightly. Not only that, but I wish the book dealt with Gabi's trauma more as well; both sisters have been through so much yet the novel doesn't quite touch upon Gabi as it does Marisol; there are many moments where Marisol goes "she's been through so much," yet there are very few moments outside of a precious few lines of dialogue that show that Gabi and some of her behaviors may be processing her own traumas as well.
The ending was also quite abrupt:

Like they're searching for Gabi and her friend Juliette at this party but it ends when Marisol just finds Gabi...where was Juliette LOL

Overall, a wonderful book to read if you are invested for the relationships between the characters, but if one wants to read a book that really dives into the heavy topic of US immigration policy and exploitation, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Outing

Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, Blood, and Medical content

kathsaph's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

"The Grief Keeper" is the story of Marisol, a seventeen-year-old girl, who flees El Salvador with her little sister under threat of death. Once in America Marisol is offered the chance to win asylum by participating in an experiment; taking another person's grief. What she does not expect is falling in love with the girl she is saving. 

This novel was personally difficult to read, but completely relevant and impactful. So many details were packed into 300 pages, all contributing to amazing character development and storytelling. The book is in the first person and often includes Spanish, I ended up looking up the words as I went along, and I recommend doing the same, it added another layer of depth. My response to "The Grief Keeper" was visceral, and although not all of the technology in the book exists, the societal views that would allow the experiment to happen do, making the book terrifying. Please check triggers before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Blood, and Alcohol

lilcoppertop's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Murder

cheesepuppy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.5

I hated this book as much as I loved it. It was a beautiful read. I looooved the flashbacks that let us have a glimpse into the past. 

The author did a wonderful job explaining and making me believe in this technology that doesn’t really exist. The concept was interesting.  I hate what was done to the main character in both her own country and US. I thoroughly enjoyed and hated this story

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Blood and Murder

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

Marisol and her sister Gabi have come to the US as refugees to escape gang violence back home. When restrictive boarder practices threaten to send them home, Marisol agrees to become part of a medical experiment in order to have their asylum request heard. The experiment seeks to try a new medical technology designed to transfer grief and trauma from someone experiencing them to someone else as a sort of temporary holding tank of sorts. Marisol is paired with a girl her age who recently lost a sibling in a traumatic way. 

I enjoyed this read quite a bit. The story flowed smoothly, and the characters were engaging. I thought the concept of transferring grief and trauma from one person to another was an interesting, though troubling, concept and it was well executed here. It was stressful seeing Marisol fall prey to unethical practices targeting vulnerable populations! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia

Death of sibling, PTSD, flashback, battlefield trauma, explosion trauma, medical science unethically taking advantage of vulnerable populations, detention center, US immigration practices