Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney

10 reviews

katy_bee's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

I thought this was beautifully written and really enjoyed it. The characters felt rich and real, flawed and sympathetic. 
It's not heavy on plot and not everything is totally resolved but the gentle move towards community and fulfillment is compelling 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Infertility, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

jen_nej's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

This book was such a mixed bag for me! I started out expecting to love it, it’s beautifully written and I truly felt there was no way I’d be let down but the pacing felt a bit off through the middle. I found myself reading just to get through the chapter. It was nice to see some neurodivergent representation and to have characters who loved and supported the protagonist without question. I was just hoping for more and I didn’t realize I was disappointed until the very end. Also, I’m not loving this literary fiction trend of no quotes around dialog. Give me quotes please, I begggggggg 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Alcoholism

Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, and Sexism

deedireads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? No

3.5

All my reviews live at https://deedireads.com/

My latest Booker Prize longlister, and while I see its merits, I’m not super surprised that we didn’t see this one on the shortlist. I was a little hot and cold on it; sometimes I felt super engaged and sometimes I felt the opposite. All in all, I think I am slightly to the positive side of neutral on it.

As you might expect, this is about what happens to characters as they learn to build a boat rather than how to actually build a boat, lol. But I also think it’s about characters searching for proverbial life rafts. That said, I’m not exactly sure how the two main plot lines tied together; they left me feeling like there was something unresolved even though that isn’t quite the case.

All in all, I think this book is stunning but a bit superficially. It has really stunning prose, especially the ending — if you love books that sing like poetry, this might be enough for you. I just didn’t necessarily feel as connected to it at a deeper level. Still, glad I read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, and Death of parent

rei_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, and Infertility

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Miscarriage

backtoblighty's review

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Listened to this story via audio  - Ciaran O’Brien was a fantastic narrator and captured Jamie perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Misogyny

Moderate: Death of parent

jouljet's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Bullying

minniepauline's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Gorgeous. I devoured it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death of parent, and Infertility

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Misogyny

wordsofclover's review

emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Death of parent

alicebodnar's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Emotionally gripping story of members of a found-community around a challenging boy. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Bullying

reads_eats_explores's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Classism, Addiction, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Death of parent, Mental illness, Medical content, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Cursing, Death, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Toxic friendship