Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

30 reviews

lilcoppertop's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Ableism and Homophobia

noms01's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy

twonky's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

mockingjayx16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, and War

fayesavanne's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

linseae's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Violence

The violence is fantasy violence, and to be expected from a kid-like/fairytale-inspired yet not-children’s-book.

rkazoo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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

I’m incapable of reading this and not crying. So many beautiful themes and messages delivered by incredible characters. Ah!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Misogyny, Excrement, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

lea_liest's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: War

Minor: Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

vagrantheather's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

The Book of Lost Things was recommended to me when I put up a request for trashy paranormal romance books. So obviously it was not at all a proper recommendation lol. It's a well written, solid book. It follows David, a child during the first World War, who watches his mother die of a drawn out illness, then his father remarry and have a new child. He's dealing with a lot of difficult, heavy emotions and he's angry at everyone. David is pulled through a wall into a fantasy realm where all the usual fairy tales are just a bit different from how he knows them. On his journey to return home, he does a lot of reflecting and growing up. Essentially it's a coming of age story in a dark fairy tale frame. 

Connolly did a great job but it was certainly a more forthright distribution of life lessons than I'm accustomed to reading. The characters - the crooked man, the woodsman - were faithful representations of archetypes, rather than fully developed characters. It's a story that explored heavy themes via the familiar lens of centuries old stories. Connolly even goes so far as to dedicate the last quarter of the book to a discussion of the original material, from the first written versions to variations across cultures to the moral lessons portrayed in each. 

For personal enjoyment I'd probably give it a 4/5. It didn't hit emotionally for me, nor am I interested in a coming of age story at the moment. I thought the initial allusions to OCD were unfortunate in that David is cured of his compulsions by a couple words of fatherly advice. I would probably recommend this to literary teenagers. It's probably not compelling for fans of popular booktok fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: War

queenshrike's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and War