Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Refugee by Alan Gratz

8 reviews

c_e_w's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Torture, Bullying, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Death, Gore, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Grief, Racism, and War

catwhisperflubbs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

It's a lot.......... it's a lot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Child death, and Torture

Minor: Death, Bullying, and Cursing

That one scene where Ivan di3s in a shark @ttack...... I almost threw up to the sheer DETAIL of it. Like we did not need to know THAT much but okay. If you've read that scene..... I mean I was traumatized you were traumatized and I'm positive we all were and now we can be traumatized together:)

ksuazo94's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Death, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, War, Violence, Antisemitism, and Child death

rose_k's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad tense 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? No

5.0

This book was incredible. Oh my word. It pulls at your heart strings and makes you want to do more for refugees. Definitely recommend reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Genocide, Grief, Violence, Racism, War, Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Death, Cultural appropriation, and Torture

smasson13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I taught this book to my grade 7 students and it was exactly the type of book they needed. 

Covering three interconnected stories, across almost 80 years of time, Refugee was a novel that introduced my students to not only the issues facing refugees, but the barriers put in place against them by nations and organizations. 

Personally, I enjoyed Isabel and Mahmoud's stories the most. It felt like Josef's was more background information to tie the others together. 

The pace was slow at times but the alternating chapters kept students engaged. I appreciated the reflective aspect and the clear skill the author has in writing for children. The book provided great opportunities to study theme, character development, dialogue, and suspense. Things were just the right side of blatant so the students understood, but still gave opportunities for further inference.  I will definitely teach this novel again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Racism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Mental illness, Genocide, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Loss of child

siguirimama's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide attempt, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

rubydagger's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, and Death

aimzthereader's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A heart breaking story following 3 refugee children in different times but somehow they are all linked .
 Josef is a 12/13 year Jewish boy trying to escape from Germany and the Nazis. 
Isabel is a 12 year old Cuban girl trying to escape from Cuba to Miami to get away from Castro
Mahmoud is a Syrian boy trying to escape the violence and war torn country in 2015 

It was heartbreaking to see and read about their struggles and also how dangerous these escapes truly were. The author did a great job switching between the three different story lines and showing their tough journeys. It’s a very tough book because we know these type of things truly happened and it’s hard to see the atrocities humans of all different ages had to go through.

The pacing of this book was perfect and it was very well written. The characters were lovable and felt very real. It made me feel a lot of emotions. I also liked the way the author tied some of the storylines together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Antisemitism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Hate crime

Moderate: Mental illness and Torture

Minor: Self harm and Suicide attempt