Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

8 reviews

kaela_arcuri's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Abandonment, and Medical content

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to like this book more than I did.  The dual timelines broke up the story too much for me.  I preferred the story set in 1980s Chicago to the one in the present day.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Classism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Ableism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Blood, Body shaming, Dementia, Drug use, Excrement, Medical content, and Abandonment

samarakroeger's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.5

it took me a minute to become ensconced in the story and then I couldn't put it down.  I stayed up until 2 AM crocheting and listening to this audiobook get sadder and sadder and before I knew it, the book was over.  this is one I need to sit with for a bit, but color me impressed.

if you liked Still Life by Sarah Winman, you'll love this.  very similar books in many ways (with different settings and plots, obviously).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Medical content, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

cady_sass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I am absolutely floored that there aren’t more people (at least in my universe) talking about this book. I am in AWE. What a stunningly heartbreaking story. I loved every part of this, even the parts that brought tears to my eyes. It will weigh on your heart, on your soul, and live in your mind. When I wasn’t reading all i wanted to do was pick it back up. Even though it’s an inherently sad story, and you know that no matter what it’s going to be sad at the end, you still kind of hope for the happy ending you know you won’t get. There are what feels like a million characters and somehow I cared about all of them, even the ones I hated. Everyone in world should read this and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Bullying, Alcoholism, Classism, Homophobia, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

emmapaigereads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Chronic illness, Abandonment, and Alcohol

howwoolatthemoon's review against another edition

5.0

Ooooooof this book is so compelling and absolutely heartbreaking all at the same time. It's two timelines, popping back and forth, intertwined - the present, and Chicago in the 80s. Makkai figures out how to reveal things in the right order, despite the timeline changes, and make it all feel so natural. I would recommend this book to anybody and everybody - except those who had to live through this particular time in history - it's about a friend group made up of mostly gay men living through the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. And by "had to live through this time," I don't mean those who were merely alive at the time it happened. I mean those who were IN it, and anyone who has lived as gay man in the years since. It's beyond tragic how many lives were lost, and how many ways these men were made to feel like garbage. I lived in this time, as a child, in the 80s. I vaguely knew some about AIDS at the time. This book hooked me from the start with great storytelling, and really opened my eyes to the details of day to day life and death (although that's not the only topic it covers).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Medical content, Chronic illness, Death, Alcoholism, Bullying, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Self harm, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Addiction, and Alcohol

leah_alexandra's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a wonderful and heartbreaking book. You have to know going in that it is sad, and you will cry if you're someone who cries while reading, but don't let that put you off.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

lilliemanvel's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

I dunno if I’ll ever get over this story or my heart-full and heart-break. It’s just incredible. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Genocide, and Religious bigotry