Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Olisi jotain kerrottavaa by Celeste Ng

392 reviews

natbaggett's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Suicide

dowleyrachel's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

honestly still trying to find my thoughts with this one. I like Ng’s storytelling style, how it jumps in time and weaves threads together. I found the parts about her mother having to give up her dreams and putting them on her daughter as very compelling. The generational storytelling also did a good job of reminding the reader how much things have changed and progress has moved forward in just a couple generations. Sometimes the lack of communication in these books frustrate me. I can see how it captures real family dynamics, especially in indirect family cultures. But I wish for more of a payout ending where words are shared. Like I wanted Nath and Jack to have a much more real conversation. I honestly don’t know what to think of Lydia’s suicide. Like, was it suicide or did she actually think she could reach the doc if she tried hard enough? I suppose her logic was the product of mental illness all the same. I just don’t know what to think of it being accidental and I’m curious what those who have either attempted suicide or experienced the suicide of a loved one think of this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Suicide

alyssaarroyo's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide

fancyjess_party's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Racial slurs, Vomit, Cultural appropriation, Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Colonisation, Racism, and Sexism

frey's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely devastating read, in the best way possible. Not the genre i usually read but by the quarter-way point i was unable to put it down for long. Even as a non-American it was such a beautiful read with beautifully believable characters. The way of telling the story was so well done and my heart hurt so much for Hannah the longer I read.

Not to mention, finding out at the very end that Lydia didn't actually mean to kill herself broke my heart. The last chapter of the book was so beautifully sorrowful that it nearly broke me. The line from Nath's point of view at the very end of the book: "When, a long, long time later, he stares down at the silent blue marble of the earth and thinks of his sister, as he will at every important moment in his life." I still think about this line weeks later. Nothing encapsulates grief better I think in the book than this line. I will never get over it: "I will always think of you in the most important moments of my life" is grief in its most beautiful form.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Racism, Sexism, Infidelity, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Racial slurs and Pregnancy

Minor: Body horror, Sexual content, and Alcohol

sloan_emmi92's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Wow. This book was one of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve ever read. The way everything was portrayed made me feel like I understood perfectly, and the issues discussed and represented were put into perspective. I loved this story, and it’s so so sad but makes you reflect on life. This is so lighthearted read- that’s for sure. It would’ve been a 4 star, but just wasn’t QUITE there but such a great story. (I come back to the review and change someday- I haven’t decided yet:))

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, and Child death

Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Medical content, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism

barnowllette's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.5

Dealing with the complexity of what we hold back, this book tackles on the unsaid in a way that is resonant. The writing style is simple, but describes the intricacies and subtleties of racial hierarchies and double consciousness in a way that leaves the reader examining their own relationship with, not only their identity but also how they interact with others. 

One of the things I look forward to in most novels is character growth and the “act of withholding;” this novel has both in spades. The characters are utterly human, selfish and unconcerned and complex and trying their hardest to be better than what they grew up with but can’t seem to get over themselves. Emotional repression and expectation is a major theme in this novel, culminating in a great message of seeing people for who they truly are and not just who we want them to be.

Lydia, is both a main character but not, almost entirely absent in the first quarter of the book, yet her presence is keenly felt throughout. I love stories like that, with semi-Absent Protagonists (I.e Achilles in Song of Achilles, Thomas Hamilton in Black Sails, or even Michael Berzatto in The Bear).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Suicide

adeavila's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

This book is so incredibly emotional. I cried genuine tears for the characters and I felt their pain. All of the characters have complexity and weave a story that creates a beautiful tragedy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Racism

stirlitza's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, and Infidelity

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Abandonment

csmoke85's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Suicide