Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

24 reviews

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

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

thumbeleia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Car accident, Classism, Terminal illness, War, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child death

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual content

kmsander4's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

There is something magical hidden within the words of The Dictionary of Lost Words. Perhaps it is simply the deep love and reverence Williams has for words of all types. But if you ask me, I would say it is the heart. This book is full of love and heart.

The love of Esme and her dad. The love and deep respect for words by almost every single character. The relationships. Esme and Da. Esme and Lizzie. Esme and Dr.  Murray. Da and Ditte. Da and Lily.

Spoiler

Esme and Gareth. Lizzie and Gareth.  Gareth and his mom. Esme and Her. Megan and her Mum. Megan and her mother.

Some readers may say that parts of this book drag. They may say it becomes overly verbose. But, to me, that's what makes it perfect. It is a book filled to the brim with words. Some of which are no longer used and others that still make us blush. Words that are used to tell the fictionalized story of the Oxford English Dictionary AND the story of the girl who grew up in the Scriptorium.

There is love, loss, war, grief, fight, determination, loyalty, fear, everything on these pages. There is life. I will scream about this book from rooftops. I will read it again and again and again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: War and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy

leannanecdote's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Cursing, War, Racial slurs, Blood, Violence, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion

monnibo'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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Colonisation, Pregnancy, Classism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Classism, Colonisation, War, Abortion, Grief, Slavery, Sexual content, Bullying, and Violence

marsspider42's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book! It is one of the most believable and well constructed historical fiction works I have read, to the point where the Author’s Note at the end which acknowledges the parts that are real and the parts that are fiction was quite jarring to me. Pip Williams is an expert at constructing loveable and believable characters with full lives and motivations, and realistic tragedies.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a historical fiction from the perspective of a woman in England who loves to learn. Even if you are not a big historical fiction reader (I am not!) this book will be a joy to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

gollibee's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, and War

Minor: Abortion

mckiheather's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

3.0

The Dictionary of Lost Words was a nice storyline, just slow in parts. The main character, Esme, was a very curious and intelligent character who reminded me of Liesel from The Book Thief in her independence and love for words, especially neglected words. This, and the chance to see how Esme changed over time through the words she collected, gave the book a unique voice and style that I enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Classism, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Car accident, Rape, Abortion, Sexual content, and Violence