Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

8 reviews

catriona176's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Perrotta paints his characters and scenes so vividly - I could sit with his prose  for hours. Also the ending made me cry

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Rape

eclipse799's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jdhauk's review

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Violence, and Stalking

Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy

bmpicc's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

I'm finally watching the TV show, so thought 'Why not'. This is a seriously interesting concept. I do love Perrotta's storytelling. I almost feel like it ended too soon, but then listening to the author interview at the end kind of changed my mind. He started with a dystopian, apocalyptic story and it somehow morphed into an exploration of grief and things in the world that are outside of our control. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

julbel's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

bookn3rd's review

dark emotional reflective slow-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

2.5

I really wanted to love this book as it got me out of a long period of time in which I only read graphic novels and children’s books. The concept is interesting enough and it compelled me to keep reading. It was an easy finish. I liked the exploration of grief and its impact on larger suburban society. 

However, my main issues with the book involve lazy stereotypes and descriptions, such as describing the strongest athlete as a “black giant” & his fellow teammates as “mediocre white dudes”, or the baby as “vaguely Asian features”. Like, Tom Perotta, do you realize that the continent of Asia is MASSIVE and people look really different all across it? It felt like bad writing and lazy to me. Very much a ‘white gaze’ for the ‘white audience’. I also disliked the ending. It felt VERY rushed and with no clear message or thoughts to ponder on.

I felt like this book would have made a decent rough draft but it still needed A LOT of work before being published. The ideas were all ovee the place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

autumngk's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

the entire Christine, Tom, Holy Wayne/Gilchrest plotline may be triggering. Christine, a minor who is fetishized for being Asian, is trafficked and impregnated by HW. She remains with Tom throughout the story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity and Blood