Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Todos los pájaros del cielo by Charlie Jane Anders

20 reviews

clairebau's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I expected to think this book was just okay, and then I went and loved it. I love a coming-of-age story. I love light science fiction. I love stuck-up, idiot-smart male characters and genuinely interesting & feminine female ones. Magical realism is always a bit of a hit or miss for me, but in this case, it was a huge hit. I love a weird ass book. God, this book was weird, but in an off-beat, well developed way. The strength of this book was in its characters and writing style. The plot was just-fine, I guess, but I liked the other aspects too much to care.

My critiques are few. There were too many minor characters with too-few contributions to the story at large. Like with most books, I felt the ending was a bit rushed and not as fleshed out as the beginning (which, in the case of this book, was especially carefully done). Slight deus ex machina at the end, but there was enough leading up to it that I'm not mad about it.

I'd love if this author focused less on plot-ambitious stuff and kept at the coming of age, realistic romance sort of thing, as that's what I thought she excelled at. I'll likely be rereading this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, War, and Sexual content

cb1984's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-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

3.25

The first act was pretty poor. It was just relentless bullying, one of the characters not really being sure about their powers and the other... sort of learning technology but not really? I didn't really feel like the lifelong friendship was really that believably established.

I probably enjoyed it a bit more after the first act. There were bits that felt rushed, but I enjoyed the character development, including the minor characters. But overall, my review is basically "Eh." It was fine. Nothing special. No idea why it was nominated for so many awards.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Bullying

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Drug use

mysterymeenah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Death

Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent

Minor: War and Violence

ehmannky's review against another edition

reflective 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

4.0

A slightly absurdist book following two young people dealing with loneliness and the trials and tribulations of becoming an adult and learning about being connected and communication. And one just happens to be a witch and one is a big of a mad scientist who both accidentally find themselves working for groups with eco-fascist bents. I thought that the plot ended up being a bit thin at the end, but I thought the character build up and the relationship between Patricia and Laurence made this a really enjoyable and delightful read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Death, Murder, Violence, and War

walkie_check's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Body horror, Ableism, Deadnaming, and Abandonment

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, Gore, Sexual content, War, Violence, and Body horror

Minor: Animal cruelty and Death of parent

maddibw's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

It was a fun and interesting read. And it certainly felt like a take on Sci-fi and fantasy that I haven’t read before which was cool. I will say that the summary in the flap of the book feels like it describes plot points that aren’t as significant to the book or don’t adequately summarize or encapsulate the book in the way I would have liked it to. Then again, I may not have read it and I enjoy it!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, War, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Chronic illness, Vomit, Sexual content, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

bibeanenergy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent

kimberly28's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

4.0

I ADORED 2/3 less 5 pages of this book. 
I think I pretty much hate adult books from the perspective of kids, so that's the first third out. Like I didn't see the twists coming at all when it was connections between the childhood stuff and the adult stuff because I'd closed off the childhood part as just something I'd struggled through and the adult part is the "real" book, which is nonsense. 
But also the ending I found extremely rushed and unsatisfying, way too ambiguous. I had no idea how in the world the author was going to bring things in at the end because so much was going on and there were so few pages left! And then it turned out the author didn't know either whoops
But the rest though! I think I'll be recommending this despite the parts I strongly disliked, particularly because the children's-perspective thing might just be a me problem. I was feeling bad that I wasn't reasonably going to be able to give this 5 stars when I was almost at the end because I LOVED it so much, but I had to remember that I struggled so bad through the first part. But then the ending was a letdown so lol I didn't feel so bad. Still, a 4 is a triumph given all that!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, War, and Violence

sarahandmatilda's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

This was fascinating, unique, and highly entertaining. I loved the combination of magic and technology, and the relationship between the two main characters. Sometimes the end of the world/climate change/war felt a little to real, but there was enough hopefulness and positivity in the book to keep me very engaged. The AI was a highlight!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent