Reviews with content warning for Death - Children of Paradise

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova

53 reviews

emilyrowanstudio's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

What a strange little book. What did I just read? Or listen to, I should say, as I read this via audiobook. There were many times I winced and said "ew" out loud while reading this.

Children of Paradise was moody, morose, atmospheric, drudgy, dreary, grotesque, unnerving and at times, disturbing. This read like a grungy underground indie film, the visual descriptions and creepy metaphors bringing the eerie tone of the prose to life. One character is described as having pupils so dark, his eyes looked like "beetles swimming in milk". The black uniforms of the cinema workers making them look like "ants crawling over a wedding cake". The cinema is a character in itself, and probably the most fleshed out.
Not an awful lot of plot, but a hell of a lot of vibes. This book, to me, seems to be largely about death, advertently and inadvertently. The death of independent picture houses, the death of cinema, the death of character, the death of friendships, the death of life. In very much it's own creepy way, it is, at times, a great comment on capitalism and non/conformity.
To describe Children of Paradise in one word? Unsettling. To say I enjoyed it feels disturbed in itself. Definitely a thinker.

I can't see Children of Paradise winning, or even being shortlisted for, the Womens Prize, but i'm glad my attention was brought to it by being longlisted.

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literaryscouser's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

The books shows how something old and disguising can have charm and bring joy, but a forced change to what is topical which financial interest can be more dangerous and damaging. Using cinemas/film watching to explore some very dark themes and question parts of the human thinking and actions is so interesting and captivating. Didn't put it down and is a very quick, dark read.

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lianne_rooney's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-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? No

3.5

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endairiss's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad 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? No

3.0

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catarinamcor's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

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

0.5

I’ve never given a classification of less than 2 to any book, and never wrote a full review but this book was simply beyond my tolerance for disturbing descriptions. The only reason I did not DNF this book was because I listened to the audiobook on my commute and it was a short one. I found it to be a story based almost exclusively on awful, gratuitously disgusting descriptions, unlikable characters and pretentious references/comments. The plot was almost nonexistent, but predictable for the biggest events, and I could not find a purpose for reading through it. I do not recommend this read, and especially not at meal times!

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