Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Afterland by Lauren Beukes

3 reviews

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

why

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Confinement, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Blood, Cancer, Gun violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

kelsea's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Post-pandemic book that was written just before COVID. I was interested in the conceit and thought it was well-thought out, but did not personally enjoy reading what is essentially a pandemic novel (personal preference, not a fault of the book). I thought the second half of the book really dragged - too much

evangelical christian bus travel and psychotic cross-country chasing when I was hoping for more details of what society was like, and finding out what happened after they escaped the US

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Drug use

Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Cancer

syfylauren's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

So if your flaw is being male, then 100% its the main focus of this book. This story was akin to a tense dream, where you are constantly on edge, with the sense of being chased clinging to the back of every thought. It made the book hard to keep reading in the beginning, but it also made it all the more difficult to put down at the end. In my opinion, Beukes was able to pull off some of the best internal dialogue I've read in ages, weaving humour in at just the right moments, and did especially well with the morbid humour Cole develops from the events leading up to the start of the novel, or maybe that was always her sense of humour. Either way, Cole is funny, on top of every other emotion she goes through in the story. And I latched so easily into Cole's brain that Miles felt like my kid, and reading his chapters felt like I was following along as my son entered puberty, constantly feeling torn between the kid he was and the teenager he's becoming. Her sister Billie is someone you love to hate, and at times hate to love. Her f-you attitude jumped off the page. 100% entertaining, like the car chase you watch on Cops. I would probably enjoy partying with her, but would leave before the party got too out of hand, which would be entirely her fault. Would still love to hear about it the next day while we're both hungover and eating pizza. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Medical content, Gun violence, and Terminal illness

Minor: Transphobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, and Confinement