Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

9 reviews

loquaciousleon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

If you liked 

• 'Life of Pi' and/or 'Dark Life'.
• Are intrigued by the premise/summary.
• Okay with storytelling that closely follows a graphic 3rd person narrative; walking through actions quite a bit.

you will like this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse and Alcohol

aprilb_reads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

klinkertinlegs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

andreatypesbraille's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

ryanwhitley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

While WHALEFALL might not be for everybody, it was certainly for me. It had everything I love about underwater stories: creepy, claustrophobic spaces; and the terror of the unknown depths. I also really love survival stories, and this book scratched that itch big time. The first act of the book was my favorite, as it leaned into my loves and fears about the ocean. The second act was a bit slower for me as I felt it lacked the severity of tension (if that’s even possible for this plot) of the first act. The third act was incredible. Kudos to Daniel Kraus for the research he put into the story: it shows and I appreciate it. And, if this priest may say so, special kudos for his nods to and clear appreciation for the book of Jonah. Some holy books end in questions, indeed. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

sgatz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

This is an achingly beautiful book. Cannot wait to reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism

atalea's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

aparker89's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

What a trip! This book was nearly impossible to put down- I just had to know if Jay was going to escape his prison inside the whale! This story takes us deep into the psyche of death, grief and longing. 
While it seems a little ridiculously with the whole Jonah being swallowed by a whale, this author works hard to ensure scientific accuracy without bogging us down with too much information! 
I really enjoyed this story. It is captivating, riveting and pulls at your heart strings!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic