Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

15 reviews

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

 Monkey Beach opens with Lisamarie’s brother Jimmy being reported missing in a boating mishap. As she races to the scene she remembers much of her growing up years in Kitamaat, the Haisla Indian reservation 500 miles north of Vancouver. One of the things that struck me most about this story was the juxtaposition of traditional beliefs and ways of living, very important to Lisa’s family, with those of modern Canadian society and the friction between the two. This was amusingly depicted when as a child Lisa refused to read aloud from a schoolbook which misrepresented her cultural heritage and then loudly sang a protest song as she was escorted from the classroom. I was also struck by how much traditional knowledge had been lost and can only try to imagine the cost of this, individually for Lisa who had visions and premonitions but didn’t have the traditional knowledge to help her to better handle them, and for the community at large. The writing was excellent with the family relationships, sense of place, and connections between the people and the environment all being strongly depicted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Sexual assault

isabelgrace7146's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Rape, Suicide, Animal death, Grief, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual assault, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Emotional abuse, Murder, Abortion, Child abuse, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Racism, Classism, Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Incest

hanreadin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Bullying, Addiction, Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Rape, Alcoholism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

relicsoftime's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Grief, Eating disorder, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

idogrocker's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, and Drug use

Minor: Abortion and Genocide

ninjamuse's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Suicide attempt, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Rape

mayakinsley's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Incest, Child death, Suicide, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

cnidariar3x's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Rape, Bullying, and Animal death

bookishjd's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Colonisation, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Abortion

ulyssies's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

mysterious and beautifully, beautifully written. love all the symbolism and the fact that you have to think about the story yourself instead of having all the answers given to you

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual violence and Domestic abuse