Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Dolende zielen by Cecile Pin, Anneke Bok

17 reviews

lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

A deep dive into the long lives of three siblings left adrift in England when they lose their family. Their exploration of grief is harrowing.

This one could easily be a five star read for me - next time I read it, it will be the print version and not the audiobook (though it was beautifully read).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs

elizabethgreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

5.0

A tough story to read filled with grief, yet ends in a very hopeful tone.  The story focuses on an immigrant families experience in immigrating from Vietnam to the UK.  It shows the heartache and the triumphs.  The ending chapter was absolutely wonderful.  I loved the look at intergenerational trauma and the healing the family experienced. The sentiments how why stories are important made me cry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Child death, Death of parent, and Racism

Minor: Rape

internationalreads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, Grief, Sexual violence, and Slavery

phoevincent's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Murder, Grief, and Racism

Minor: War and Rape

snapshotsofabookishlass's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Death, Rape, Death of parent, Child death, Trafficking, and War

emilily's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Death

cerilouisereads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Alcoholism, and Xenophobia

lena_and_her_books's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Racism, War, Racial slurs, and Rape

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

I couldn't really get into the structure of the book. It was an interesting story, but it kept me at a distance and it didn't really come together. For me it wasn't able to really draw a picture, because it stayed too much on the surface of everything. But it isn't a bad book by any means, I just needed a bit more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Xenophobia, Grief, and Trafficking

Moderate: War and Racism

katewhite77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense

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

5.0

This was an amazing book that doesn’t pull any punches.

Telling the story of the Vietnamese boat people. A refuge crisis that I clearly remember from my childhood. Sadly over forty years on this book could not be timely if it tried. 

Anyone of us could have found ourselves on a small boat but by an accident of birth we have not.  

This gives a powerful and poetic voice to the refuge experience.  

A human one not a demonised one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Trafficking, Grief, and Racial slurs