Reviews tagging 'War'

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

121 reviews

hgracieeees's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a very hard book to review. It never grasped me, and the pacing was very strange (very slow at times and very fast at others). On the other hand, it's beautifully written and yells a very important story. I may not have always been into it, but I’m glad I stuck through it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Pregnancy, War, and Misogyny

purplepenning's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, War, and Classism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Cursing, and Forced institutionalization

elva_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Child abuse

mrscorytee's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

katievallin's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Grief, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Classism, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Blood, Car accident, Infertility, Medical content, Body shaming, and Sexual content

theinkwyrm's review against another edition

inspiring reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Classism, Grief, and Death

gondorgirl's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, War, Classism, Medical content, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

foxreadsbooks's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a difficult one to review. The Dictionary of Lost Words, is, to an extent, as described in the blurb, but much more, a Bildungsroman, following Esme through the development of (and her part in) the Oxford English Dictionary, as well as important historical events, including World War 1. While the central story remains the dictionary, Esme sometimes leaves the scriptorium for short and longer lengths of time, and we follow her as life happens, often tragically. It's the later description that I didn't always understand. It seems that the lasting feeling of this novel is rather melancholy. And perhaps that's life, but did it need to be so relentless in fiction? At the end, I wonder what was the point of it all?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and War

btothebooks's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.25

This is such a sweet and charming book; it definitely gets a little sad but there’s wonderful places to contemplate the use of the English language and the strength of our words. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

gabbygarcia's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexism

Minor: War, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit