Reviews with content warning for Grief - Away with the Penguins

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior

12 reviews

jessisangle's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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katymaryreads's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.5

This is both fun and touching. Lovable characters, all very different, who manage to work together and reach some level of understanding despite their differences. You have to suspend disbelief a little about

the basic premise of an 86-year-old being allowed to visit an Antarctic research station

but if you do that, it's fine. Veronica's backstory is sad and touching, and very well handled.

The epilogue rounds it off nicely.

The narrators are just perfect for their different roles.

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lady_grey_with_honey's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

I'm not usually one to like lighthearted/cozy books, but this sounded like it might be worth my time. It was a little bit of an effort to keep going and not DNF, as it was not super compelling, but by the end I did love the characters and wanted to see how they turned out. I might actually pick up book 2!

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staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-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

4.5

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sarahweyand's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

I've never come across a book where the review is so clearly "it's not you, it's me". This book is objectively, I think, fine. It's mean to be a painfully feel-good, lighthearted, book club beach read. I think it succeeded at those things for the most part, but that kind of book is just so not for me. I wouldn't have picked it up if it weren't for the book club I'm a part of, so it almost doesn't seem fair for me to rate it. Alas, here we are.

I found Veronica to be insufferable for 90% of the book. She was selfish, judgmental, manipulative, rude, and had no respect for boundaries. I feel like most of this was played off for humor as 'curmudgeonly old lady' but I didn't find it funny in the slightest. Learning more about her past was interesting, but it doesn't excuse her behavior, it just means she needed therapy. I thought Patrick was an interesting character but was too underdeveloped to have any weight - most of his chapters ended up being about reading Veronica's journals, so why was he even there? My favorite part of the book was the penguins, but they honestly took more of a backseat than I had hoped.

This book has an audience and is well-loved according to its Goodreads rating, but that audience just isn't me.

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pkll201's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Very enjoyable read, and I kept wanting to read more! Sad in places, but uplifting character developments especially at the end. Would like to read the sequel!

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