Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini

24 reviews

colossuscrunch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

astrangewind's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-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

5.0

Fractal Noise is an example of what science fiction should be. Any techno-babble is defined properly in the appendix, and the story doesn't rely on the reader's understanding of math. The science felt realistic and interesting without being overly jargony. The writing style makes the book accessible and interesting.

The plot follows a group of scientists as they make their way towards a big ol' hole on an unoccupied planet, and... that's it. The entire book starts from being in orbit, moves to landing, and then to trekking across the inhospitable plains of a foreign planet. Despite that, I found Fractal Noise to be un-put-down-able. The characterization, the interesting parts of the science, Alex's struggle with himself and losing his wife, the underlying philosophical themes, and the mystery of the hole were compelling. 

I loved that there was an appendix to define in-universe terms, but there is a major spoiler in there ("The Great Beacon"), which bugs me. At the very beginning of the book, a lot of characters are introduced to the reader with some identifying characteristic or another, but most of these characters are not even remotely relevant for the remainder of the book, and it was a lot to follow. Also, the beginning of the book had some weird fatphobia towards Pushkin. (The protagonist referred to people on his planet as "starving gorillas.") I think the book would've been just as good without it. 

Besides those things, which are largely nitpicks, I greatly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone, even people who aren't science fiction fans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Death, Medical content, Violence, and Drug use

Minor: Murder, Colonisation, Fatphobia, and Suicidal thoughts

lesejaguar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

fathom_mage's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

The smallest novel by Christopher Paolini gives us a peak into humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life. This book is incredibly sad and depressing from cover to cover yet still a fantastic look into the fractalverse world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, and Murder

boglord's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Fatphobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Pandemic/Epidemic, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body shaming, Self harm, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Excrement, Confinement, and Addiction

eliaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

really loved this, only marked down bc of the dead wife backstory fridging and bc I don’t rly like how it ended, but really strong over all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gore, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Cursing, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Domestic abuse and Drug use

amyreh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

Graphic: Murder, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence and Suicidal thoughts

actuallyahorsereads's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

Is Christopher Paolini okay?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Death, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Self harm, Medical trauma, Drug use, Drug abuse, Cursing, Violence, Religious bigotry, Racism, Grief, and Blood

barbsantos's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book has a very interesting premise and it's very well executed. However there is just so much action you can pack in a track to a hole in a desolate planet, it gets boring sometimes. I really liked how questions about the meaning of life and whether it's worth living were included in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

prynne31's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cursing, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts