Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

73 reviews

porktheorc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, and Colonisation

bookish_bry's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.75

This book is beautiful. There are so many fantastic quotes I ended up highlighting and I imagine I'll find more when I read it again. It's very good, but it is a slow read. It's not just getting the slow tag because its <500 words (like some get). It is a slow story and is more of an extended metaphor in most places than a story. Still, it was a fantastic book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Death, Animal death, Grief, and Misogyny

fpcat99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-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? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Sexism, Toxic relationship, War, Animal death, Death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Vomit

jennmb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

shinabery06's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

sylviet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Grief, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Child death, Death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and War

Moderate: Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death

bmpicc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.0

This was my 3rd book by Kingsolver. It took me longer than expected, but I'm glad I didn't rush and risk missing something. Why then 3 stars? Simple. I enjoyed it, but 546 pages still seemed like a bit much. It is an interesting character study and I think whether you are religious or not, there is (or could be) a takeaway for each reader.

"As long as I kept moving, my grief streamed out behind me like a swimmer's long hair in water. I knew the weight was there but it didn't touch me."

"There are Christians and then there are Christian."

"The power is in the balance: we are our injuries, as much as we are our successes." 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Racism, Violence, Child death, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Slavery, War, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Religious bigotry, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

amsswim's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative 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

I think this is going in not only 5 star category, but favorites and best books I've read categories. Not only was the story good, but the writing kept me engaged and seeking more the whole time. This author had such beautiful and realistic ways of making these characters come to life, as well as tie in real world implications and reflections. 

You follow 4 daughters, their Mother, and Baptist Pastor Father deep into the Congo on their Fathers' mission to convert the people living there to Western Christianity. While the family goes through culture shock regarding that and their new realities, the country is self is trying to shed itself of Belgian colonialism. Despite it taking place in the 1960s, the story and the real world events occuring now still echo the exact same. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a more modern classic. 

My favorite quote: "I found ... I had now wings ... I had lost my wings. Don't ask me how I gained them back, the story is too unbearable. I believed too long in false reassurances; believing as we all want to, when men speak of the national interests that it is also ours. In the end, my lot was cast with The Congo. Poor Congo; barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the kingdom"

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Racism, Misogyny, Animal death, Colonisation, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Genocide, and Medical content

sskinner155'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? Yes

4.5

A reflective story about an American family on a missionary trip to Congo during the 1950 and there time their.
  I liked the structure of this story and found each character pov interesting and distinct and the setting being the Congo before, during and after early independence to be intriguing. How each character reacted to not just their own family trauma and the guilt or lack there of for their country’s involvement in the downfall of Congolese independence. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Domestic abuse, Child death, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Animal death

charlotte112's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.25

Gripping and really fleshed-out story that spans over 40 years detailing the lives of the Price family who move to the Congo as missionaries. The book provides historical and political context to the Congo whilst offering a variety of unique and individual characters. A large part of the book focuses on the few years that the family resided together in the jungle and the last 1/3 on their lives after. I laughed and cried at this book and it opened my eyes to what it must have been like to live in a country with severe poverty, hunger and political corruption. I felt the last part was quite heavy on the latter for me but overall I found the characters believable and really felt like I was in the jungle with them. I loved how touching the ending was and I think it helped to ease up on the sorrow in the book and provide a more uplifting and hopeful future for the main characters. Not quite a 5 star read due to the length of the last part of the book but I loved the themes that this explored and how immersed I felt in their world. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, War, and Child death