Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

13 reviews

mjenae's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

“You should quick read The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” my sister told me when I put down my last book. “It's on my favorite books list. I don't even know why I like it so much, but I do.”

I know why she likes it, and why I love it just as much.

Mitch Albom has a new and beautiful story to tell—a comforting philosophy. He makes you stop and think with every turn of the page. And not just think about the story, but about your life and the far-reaching consequences and what everything means. He tells it in an intense and captivating style, bringing his words to life in vivid pictures, communicating emotions and important values and lessons straight to the heart.

I've never read something like this before—never. I can't even compare it to other literary works. And it's not modern or strange for its originality, it's universal and welcoming.

I expect to read this again in the future.

PS: I know I mentioned this in the content warnings, but I thought I should make a quick personal note. A good chunk of Eddie's story takes place during/in WW2, and the author does not shy away from the details. I got lightheaded just reading some of the descriptions. So if you're a sensitive reader, you might want to go into this book carefully.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Car accident, and Alcohol

angeldevoursliterature's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I don't believe in heaven. This book though, taught valuable lessons about life and death which make you pause and reflect as you read through.  A lighthearted and fast-paced read. Not my usual cup of tea but I enjoyed the story nonetheless. 
(Brb while I go and give the author's other books a shot :D *disappears*) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infertility, Racism, and Sexual assault

caroline_peacock's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

revbeckett's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

In the dedication, Albom writes, “Everyone has an idea of heaven, as do most religions, and they should all be respected.” His pluralistic view should be rejected since the Scriptures do not tell us what Heaven is like (and anyone’s guess is simply wrong), speaking rather of the intermediary state as a sleep, and focusing our attention instead on the bodily resurrection in the new creation. Yet he does do well in the overall purpose of this short novel, that people “realize, finally, how much they mattered and how they were loved.”

The story is about a grizzled WWII veteran, Eddie, who finds himself meeting 5 significant people in Heaven after dying in a tragic accident—some he knew, others he didn’t. It is a story of vocation—how true meaning in life is found in the vocations God gives us to serve and love others. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and War

jacobs's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Blood, and Car accident

delinxw's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

Meh. Was hard for me to get through. Don’t think I’ll read part 2. In the beginning the story was fine and I do understand what the story is trying to convey, but I didn’t really like the characters, stories or writing style. The book makes some weird points about life, but also some beautiful ones, I just don’t think the good outweighed the bad (for me). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment

someonelikeblue's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Infertility and Vomit

ninah17's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

clemrain's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

The Five People You Meet in Heaven was not for me. 

Found it hard to sympathize with Eddie. I normally like characters that can be hard to root for, but Eddie didn’t fit the bill. The more people he met in heaven to explain his life, the more irritated I got with Eddie. His life goes against many of my own morals and maybe that’s why. I tried to keep an open mind and meet the books end to understand the character better but it didn’t happen.

The way this book makes you see the “good side” of abusive and shitty people is absolutely gross. What was especially out of touch was Ruby telling Eddie to forgive his father when she is a total stranger to him and his situation . His father was abusive and self righteous. This is one of the morals that contradict mine. Forgiveness isn’t necessary to move on.

Also Eddie’s mom was in the middle of being sexually assaulted and somehow his father ended up being the victim but also a good guy because he forgave the person who was doing it??

Like yeah I get message. People are complicated. However. there is absolutely a better way of showing that than what the author went with. 

The writing was simple. Nothing spectacular about it. It is interesting to read a piece of fiction by someone who primarily works in non-fiction. It really reads in the writing style. I do think this story could’ve been shorter and I’m glad it wasn’t longer.

Ending

was predictable and exactly what I thought it’d be. Does that make it bad? No. But it’s adds to the lack of memorability of this book.

I really wanted to like this book and I had expectations going into it. Maybe that contributed to my disappointment in it. 

Side note: I also did not appreciate how the little child was described at the end of the book and it turned my mood sour for it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

yooniereads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

3.0

In the first 30 pages, the text heavily reflects traditionally western ideals of the afterlife. But after pushing through that, the depiction is more ambiguous as Eddie continues on his journey. It’s a good thought experiment, I just found it a bit lacking, specially with how things were wrapped up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Medical trauma and Car accident