Reviews tagging 'Grief'

And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin

11 reviews

dev921's review

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Alcohol, Death, and Death of parent

kermit_the_wrong's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Confinement, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Forced institutionalization, Death, Mental illness, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Murder

emzhay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting

cheye13's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I was already so intrigued by the premise of this, but it surpassed my expectations. I don't think I was ready for how meta the story would get with discussions of "the narrative." Quickly rocketed to one of my favorite books. It's one of those that I think I'll get more out of with each reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Xenophobia, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

body horror and gore typical of zombie media; moderate description of implied postpartum depression; repeated reference to instance of mass murder, not in detail; the pandemic/epidemic takes the form of mass hallucination which may be reminiscent of forms of schizophrenia and/or psychosis, but are not literally intended to be depictions of such

killmoore_'s review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Go into this one as blind as possible. It's worth it.

A spin on the "infected" trope that left my jaw on the floor. Beautifully written in a way that makes you question your own narrative, a book that builds in suspense through thinly veiled social commentary and doubt. 

164 pages of brilliance. I can't recommend this book enough.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Grief, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, and Body horror

annamorgan27's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Gore, Grief, Vomit, Alcohol, Suicide, Murder, Cannibalism, and Death

doomluz's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-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

5.0

This wasn't what I expected it to be about but I oved it. It reminded me of the films Shaun of the Dead and They Live. I liked the commentary it made about stories and beliefs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Gore, Murder, Violence, and Grief

professor_jango's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Blood, and Child death

dalmavatai's review against another edition

dark reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

2.5

A book with a super unique concept that could have been better in its execution. The characters were not particularly fleshed out, and the message could have benefited from subtlety and nuance rather than sort of whacking the reader on the head with it. I enjoyed the writing style and some of the characters' reflections. I also think I had the wrong expectations because I thought the majority of the book would take place in this psychiatric facility which it didn't; it's very much for fans of apocalyptic fiction who want some commentary on the power of propaganda & narratives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

spooderman's review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Self harm, Blood, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts