Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Great Circle, by Maggie Shipstead

56 reviews

siebensommer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

Where is the border between life and oblivion? Why should anyone presume to recognize it?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Sexism

rosie_b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a tricky book to review because I enjoyed the second half but the first half was SO slow and meandered aimlessly. I almost gave up on it a few times but kept reading because another review on here said the ending was satisfying, and it was. I think I’d have enjoyed the book more if the first half had been condensed.

Spoiler

Additionally, I found the grooming storyline really hard to keep reading.

 
Check out the content warnings because there’s a lot, and the first half especially contains some hard to read stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Abortion, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Mental illness

karenmsecrest's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

A sweeping epic spanning generations written in lyrical prose. Themes of connection, isolation, triumph, loss, trauma, and victory. 

At the core is the story of a girl growing up in prohibition-era Montana desperate to become an aviatrix, and the actress who will play her on film 90 years later. Without giving any spoilers, there is a LOT of trauma in this story, as with any story set during depression, prohibition, WWII, etc. The way the disparate lives are woven together is stunning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Rape, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abortion, Child death, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Child abuse

smaravetz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

This was great- on the long side but tied all ends together by the final chapter. Really enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual violence and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Abortion

booksandmo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Child abuse, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Child death, Grief, Pedophilia, Gore, and Death

Minor: Abortion

littlefish's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Addiction, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, War, and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Abortion, Child death, and Sexual assault

Minor: Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Homophobia

sarahbuckley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

i forgot how much i love stories that span decades until I read this. Marian is SUCH a good main character, and her life story is so so so good. On the other hand, I know the Hadley story existed because we needed someone in the present-day to "discover" Marian's story, but I had literally no interest in her life. I was glad as the book went on that there were fewer present-day chapters, but at the same time it made me feel like...what was the point in spending so much time talking about Hadley's romantic life and the chaos she was involved in? It kind of felt like the author also got more into the Marian story as she kept writing and then forgot about Hadley. I can't complain too much because of how much better the Marian story was anyways, but at the end I was like wait...why did we get all that exposition about Hadley's love life? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Homophobia

maryclaire92's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

Reading this started as a marathon, but finished in a sprint! I enjoyed learning every little tidbit I could from every scrap of text about Marion. The switches in POV and time kept the story fresh and added to the momentum for me. I found myself the least interested in the modern actress Hadley who is portraying Marion in a film, but loved the way that she was tied in more meaningfully towards the end and couldn’t put the book down for the last 150 pages or so. 

If I’m being honest, it dragged at times for me, but that can also be attributed to me reading it towards the end of this semester of grad school. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Rape, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Homophobia, and Misogyny

sophiegs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Abortion and Grief

ojreadsbooks's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Violence, Death of parent, and Rape