Reviews tagging 'War'

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

9 reviews

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

Beautiful writing as always from Fowler! It could be slow at times and I had to really pay attention otherwise I’d get confused about what was happening. The first and last thirds were the best parts of the novel, the middle slumped a little making it difficult to pick up again. But as I said, Fowler’s gorgeous writing has a way of pulling me back in (and marking plenty of passages along the way).

The characters are complex and well written! I didn’t always like them but that’s what made them more interesting at the same time.

The story is told in alternating chapters between three of the Booth children-Rosalie, Edwin, and Asia-plus chapters about Lincoln’s rise to power and other historical tidbits to add context to the story. Overall an enjoyable story about a family that despite having an infamous member also isn’t very well known. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Slavery, War, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Infidelity, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Child death, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

betsyhokamp's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Child death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Slavery, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Animal death, Death, Slavery, War, Violence, Mental illness, and Child death

shearfeather's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: War, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mysterymom46's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Child death, Death, Infertility, Slavery, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical content, and War

Minor: Ableism and Sexual violence

Spoiler

several mentions of mobs and rioting; bigamy

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, War, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

amykwrites's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Grief

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Child death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Classism, and Blood

ghoulscoutcamp's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcoholism, and Child death

Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, War, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Racism and Homophobia

nadia's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

4.0

A big part of me eventually giving this book 4 stars is to do with me having read it knowing nothing of its subject matter - a combo of me not reading the blurb or the publisher’s letter in the beginning pages and me not knowing certain details about a particular part of history… 

I went into it with such high hopes, after having uncharacteristically filled out the form to receive an ARC, because I remember enjoying We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves several years ago.

However for a lot of it, I felt it was rather slow and I didn’t get what the point was.

By the end, everything made sense!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, Violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Gun violence, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Homophobia

sjanke2's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

 I'm so enjoying fiction's latest focus on the families surrounding history's (in)famous men: William Shakespeare's wife in Hamnet, Johannes Kepler's mom in Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch, and now John Wilkes Booth's siblings.

Between my fondness for this literary structure and my obsession with Abe Lincoln (we share a bday), I should have loved this book. My high expectations for this novel dwindled over its ~500 pages as I read repeatedly about the Booth brothers' theatrical success, their drinking, and their silly life-threatening travels. I had to remind myself that this is not a novel about John Wilkes Booth; it's about his family. But his family was melodramatic and frankly put me to sleep on many occasions. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Colonisation, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Infidelity, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and War