Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

3 reviews

saskiahill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Misogyny, Self harm, and Sexism

Minor: Pregnancy

sarahyjackson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

An outside of my typical genre read! I always enjoy puzzling through a mystery/thriller and the scope and scale of the various mysteries in this thriller were certainly engaging and impressive. 

There are some elements of the story that were really hard for me to read - check content warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Antisemitism

Minor: Ableism

CW: Fanaticism and terrorism

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

When I first picked this up I thought, at 800+ pages, I'd be reading it for a month. Instead I devoured it in a week. Yes, it's long, but it's completely engrossing and so immersive. Plus, the short chapters meant I was always making time to read just one more little bit.

It helps that Pilgrim is a fantastic character with a fascinating backstory, and I immediately wanted to know more about him. We come into the narrative relatively close to the end, and a huge chunk of the book is given to filling in blanks along the way. We learn about Pilgrim and the Saracen (Saracen's history is particularly interesting), and their characters flesh out gradually as their paths converge.

The story is heavily influenced by the wake of 9/11, and a new terrorist threat to US soil. So it's incredibly emotional at times. Everyone in the book has been affected in some way and it certainly ramps up the pressure. The story is filled with secrets, covert ops and a huge range of sub-plots that connect in really intricate ways.

By the time things reach a head I couldn't put it down, and I read 220 pages in a day. It's a great, epic book, but the end in particular goes nuts on the tension and drama. But mostly I was there for the amazing characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent