Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang

8 reviews

bookishcori's review

funny reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Xenophobia, and Racism

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

lindsayerin's review

challenging funny reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, Death of parent, and Medical content

shivapriya's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Xenophobia

caseythereader's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, and Racism

Moderate: Hate crime

rachreads925's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

This is a study of a character who doesn't quite fit in socially, is blunt, focused, and definitely quirky. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she becomes a doctor and is an attendant in the ICU at a hospital in New York City as the book opens in late 2019. The story isn't quite linear, with memories of her childhood and younger years popping up throughout. The book unfolds as Joan deals with grief, her shifting family dynamics, feeling stuck between two cultures, and the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic. The writing is fantastic, as well as provocative and not even that long which is nice. Days later, I'm still thinking of Joan and this book. I don't normally love character driven stories, but this one is a definite exception. I highly recommend it, especially the audio version - the narrator was just the right match for this book. Thank you to Random House for the advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Xenophobia

Minor: Racism

beyourbestshelf's review

reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Racism and Grief

mondovertigo's review

emotional funny reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Death, Sexism, and Confinement

pretty_well_read's review

emotional funny reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief