Reviews with content warning for Violence - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

45 reviews

dizzzybrook's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I adored everything about this book. I’ve found myself becoming increasingly bored with literary mystery/thriller books written from the POV of an unreliable narrator but Tokarczuk’s execution here is really great. Janina is one of my favorite literary characters that I’ve read in quite a while. Honestly, this book could have had absolutely no plot and I would have considered it a six star book anyways based on how incredible I found the prose alone.

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marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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dark funny 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

4.0

As the main character and narrator of this darkly funny novel, Mrs. Duszejko steals the show. A fierce old woman who lives alone in a house on a remote Polish plateau, she has a big personality as an eccentric astrologer, vegetarian, non-Catholic, and translator of William Blake. She patrols the area surrounding her home daily and has a few, select friends. After her neighbor, “Bigfoot,” is found dead, a series of deaths unfolds, but no one will hear her theories about stags and stars. Ultimately, this is a story of a woman in a significant amount of grief. Beata Poźniak’s narration is exemplary—just perfect.

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rusina's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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willow_thewisp's review

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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garbagebarge69's review

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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goatsrsexy's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a hard book to review, because I really enjoyed it. It was super introspective. A literary mystery. I was attracted by the title and it was also my pick for Storygraph Read The World Poland prompt.

I loved our main character and the way she views the world in such a sad but honest way. I loved her nicknames for her neighbours and her compassion for animals.

It was interesting to read a book from the perspective of a kind of elderly (but she wasn't really that old) woman who lives on the outskirts of society and isn't really viewed as a real person worthy of respect because of her age and the way she acts. She was a very relatable character for me even though I am not an old crazy lady (yet).

My only issue with this book was it was a little slow for me, I couldn't really get into it as much as I wanted to but that may just be cus of the circumstances around when I read it (I've been feeling a little preoccupied lately).

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