Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Trust by Hernán Díaz

9 reviews

seventhswan's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was the definition of "trust the process" for me. It's not that it didn't get going straight away - there was a clear plot and interesting characters from the start - but I had no idea at all where it was going until midway through the third section, so I spent a lot of time worried that I was trying to understand the intricacies of the stock market for nothing. 

If I'm honest, the first two sections bored me a little and I found myself skim reading. They were clearly excellently crafted and I couldn't fault the characters or plotline at all, it just really wasn't a topic I was interested in. However, I raced through the third and fourth sections in a couple of hours. As the story shifted away from the stock market and focused on Ida and Mildred as characters, I was much more invested. 

This was a book with an extremely long setup, but I think the payoff was just about worth it, even if there wasn't a huge twist in the end as I thought there might be. It was excellent as a work of literature, and I see why it was highly commended, I just personally struggled to get excited by the heavy focus on the economy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, and Cancer

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

dolores153's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Revelations about 2/3 of the way through the book completely changed meaning of earlier chapters. Started over again at the beginning, and enjoyed recognizing the interplay of the various parts. Unexpectedly delightful analogy with musical progressions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Racism, Death, Toxic relationship, and Terminal illness

Minor: Death of parent, Xenophobia, Cancer, and Classism

lizzym126's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Mental illness, and Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Cancer, and Medical content

honeybeewitched87's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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 of parent, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Death, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol

bessadams's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

fiction for nonfiction readers

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, Mental illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Cancer

hmetwade's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Death of parent, Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

gracescanlon's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

In Trust, Díaz used unique method of storytelling I'd not encountered but much enjoyed. I loved that the first two parts of the book were written by men, both with fond feelings toward the main female character, but flawed, and limited by their upbringing and the society around them all the same, while the second parts were told by female characters about their own experiences, using their own words.

The ordering of these parts created the effect of the women setting the record straight. One woman saw herself in the other and used her own experience as a woman to read between the lines of the previous narratives to learn the real story while placating men. Meanwhile, the other woman told the actual story, as it happened in her life, using her own words. I loved that it seemed that it was the combined efforts of the women that revealed the truth - the first, in analyzing the information she was given and pursuing the real story, and the second, in recording the facts as she knew them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Classism, Confinement, Infertility, and Grief

Minor: Violence

kathrinbrin's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Terminal illness, Cancer, and Death of parent

notartgarfunkel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Cancer, Stalking, and Terminal illness

Minor: Grief, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Alcohol