Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell

21 reviews

repeatt's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Abortion, and Abandonment

eloisesal's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.5

This book was too much. Too many characters, too many storylines, too many themes, too much drama... But somehow it worked, it's so beautifully written and devastatingly realistic despite the very unlikely things that happened. Maggie O'Farrell writes characters and relationships so well that it feels like your own life after a while. I did get frustrated sometimes: things that could have easily been resolved if two people just talked to each other, one of the last chapters being told from the pov of a totally new character with no relation to the plot... But then it ended up just making sense and I forgave it. 

I could smell the cigarette smoke and fresh country air the whole way through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Eating disorder, and Abortion

jhansell's review against another edition

challenging 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: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Infertility, and Abortion

kdwhite's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, and Abandonment

lauratoline's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

Another fabulous story of family from Maggie O'Farrell. Lovable but flawed characters who you will root for.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

emblepemble's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, and Abortion

tinkthings's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, and Abortion

stampest's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Stalking, and Abortion

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infertility, and Miscarriage

maryannc's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Grief

Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

abbie_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.25

If you’re looking for your next engaging family drama (heavy on the drama) then may I suggest Maggie O’Farrell’s This Must Be The Place? This was my fifth of O’Farrell’s works and my second favourite so far after Hamnet. It follows a wide cast of characters across several intertwined families, touching on things like fame, divorce, infidelity, forgiveness, with plenty of skeletons in closets! The two main characters are Claudette and Daniel, but we hear from basically all the ‘supporting characters’ in their lives - however briefly their lives might have intersected. For the most part this works really well, I love seeing different facets of a character revealed by a different view point. But there was one chapter near the end where I think O’Farrell got a bit carried away, including too much detail from a minor character’s life which muddied things a bit - preparation for a different novel perhaps? The insight into her process for this novel at the end was fascinating, as she wanted to take the linear narrative and chop it up, which she does, but it’s still very easy to follow I thought! Her writing is clear, engaging and emotive, and I found myself devouring huge chunks at a time. I think it’s a good one to read if you’re feeling slumpy, as it’s got that addictive quality!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Medical content, Grief, and Abortion