Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Mädchen, Frau etc. by Bernardine Evaristo

62 reviews

bootrat's review against another edition

challenging reflective 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, and Grief

poenaestante's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny slow-paced

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

2.0

Shoutout to the critic that shaded this play Misty by Arinze Kene by asking, "are tales of Black trauma catnip for paying audiences...riddled with white guilt?". I was looking for just the right words to explain why I hated Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. There are other reasons, but this really captures the main one so beautifully. The book was also too long with too many characters.  I just simply stopped  caring.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

the_bees_books's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.25

A fascinating portrait of society and the people who live in it, you shouldnt just read it for it's Booker Prize win. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Classism

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

zara89's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cancer and Drug use

orangegirl22's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

such an interesting & complicated read, each chapter felt like it could be its own novel. truly unique and wonderful. taught me a lot. the writing style was a bit complicated i’ll say, and some characters were really hard to stand, though i guess that was sort of the point. amazing read overall - just not quite perfect. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Grief, and Lesbophobia

grandpabuxton's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.75

beautiful, poetic, wrenching, relatable, unexpected, prescient. one of my favorite reads in a long while. an incredible breadth of a story, and I felt inside the heads and hearts of each of the characters.

My only disappointment was I felt the epilogue was a little predictable and I wanted more from it, but not sure what. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

rachelthompson's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

hannahbailey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I loved this! What a cracking book, I can't believe I didn't read this sooner.

Generally I prefer not to read character-vignette novels written in third-person. But this novel just goes to show that when done well, I can really enjoy them! I loved the distinct voice of each character and how they would be name-dropped in one chapter only to be the main character of the next one. It built such an interesting and creative narrative without leaving me feeling I didn't know enough about them–which is usually the case for me with character-vignettes.

Surprised to see some reviews stating the character dialogue and mix of poetry/prose was hard to believe and unrealistic. I completely disagree! The inner dialogue of the female characters was relatable and familiar. I enjoyed the exploration of womanhood and motherhood and how this intersects with race in Britain. It was an interesting and sobering read.

It was almost 5 stars, but there was a part where the character overcomes drug addiction by sheer willpower–they literally stay at home for a week without any form of support and somehow recovers? This didn't feel realistic to me especially given the vulnerability and young age of the character. That said, this was one of the chapters that really stood out to me in its exploration of body/gender dysphoria and trans joy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

sylvia_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

To be honest, I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. I read it as part of a university-wide project where we could get the book cheap through the university and go to activities around it, but I don’t think I would have otherwise picked it up. 
But I am glad I did! Because this was a very good book. I loved how every story was interconnected and it really made me think about gender/race issues I’d never even considered before. 
The only small gripe I have about this book is that I feel like the younger characters are not always taken as seriously by the narrative as the older characters, but that might just be because I personally identify more with them and hence feel these things more strongly. 
Overall, I’m very glad I own this book now because I will definitely want to reread it some day.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Pregnancy

jo_lzr's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement and Police brutality

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury