Reviews tagging 'Death'

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

35 reviews

ariannalane's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, War, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abortion and Addiction

Minor: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

brookey8888's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

I really enjoyed this! I honestly had no clue what this was about when I picked it up, I just heard good things about it. Also that people compare it to Evelyn Hugo(which yes. It’s the same sort of plot. 

I just loved seeing Vivian come into her own and her found family. Vivian was honestly so iconic and funny. The commentary on women and sexuality was also done well in my opinion. Honestly the plot doesn’t happen I feel like till 200 pages, but I didn’t mind because I was so invested in the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Cursing, Chronic illness, Misogyny, War, Sexual content, Alcohol, Death of parent, Biphobia, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Antisemitism, and Classism

abi_dutton's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: War, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Death

kalaser's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Grief, Car accident, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

lindsey_bear's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

Wow! I enjoyed every word of this one—Gilbert so eloquently wove historical fiction themes of feminism, WWII, NYC showgirl culture in a way that made it feel relevant to you. This book is for any woman who wants to read a strikingly honest and believable, but also adventurous coming-of-age story. A huge theme was female friendship, and this was emphasised in the end as Vivian reflects on the many friendships we get engulfed in throughout the novel. It genuinely feels like you’re learning Vivian’s lessons with her, in real time. I cannot recommend this one enough, and am so glad I took the chance on a book that normally isn’t my preferred genre. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Abortion, Addiction, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Outing, and Sexual content

nataliebootlah's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective tense 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

4.0

This is the brilliant story of Vivian Morris’ life—from being kicked out of college to getting shipped off to her semi-estranged aunt in Manhattan to actors, plays, sex, and show girls. 

It’s basically a 400-page response a woman named Angela receives when she asks what her father meant to Vivian. Ultimately it’s a coming of age novel about a beautiful, rich girl finding her way (and making mistakes) through show business, war, love, loss, and life. 

I loved the darling cast, dazzling New York City nightlife, and overall ode to Vivian’s life. It’s everything you’d expect from a multi-faceted, complex, and sometimes unreliable narrator. That’s showbiz, baby!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death, Homophobia, Grief, and War

karyan1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, War, Sexual content, Body shaming, Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident

madelinedalton's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective medium-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

3.25

In many ways, this felt like a disappointing knockoff of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In many other ways, it’s quite different. As a New Yorker and musical theatre performer myself, I really enjoyed the book’s setting and atmosphere. However, I found Vivian’s reason to write a 470 page novel to answer Angela’s question to be a bit flimsy and self-indulgent. Vivian was pretty one dimensional and unlikable until the last ~100 pages of the book. I understand that that was sort of the point—that she had to outgrow this shallow existence—but I also found characters who the author consistently claimed were complex to be rather flat, so I think it was a writing flaw. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, War, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death and Misogyny

Minor: Medical content

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual content, Infidelity, Alcohol, Abortion, Body shaming, Mental illness, Pregnancy, War, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Misogyny

leonormsousa's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

REPRESENTATION 

lesbian SCs, LI w/ PTSD, PoC SC

QUOTE 

“Anyway, at some point in a woman’s life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time. After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is.” 

GENERAL OPINION 

• I devoured and loved this book!
• It's super addicting, which I wasn't expecting from historical fiction.
• Love the topic of women's liberation as well as the ones that are "left behind" during war.
• It does non-likeable-main-character perfectly.
• A bit slow at first but definitely picks up after the first one-third.
• Felt like the romance at the end was unnecessary and would have preferred it if it wasn't a part of the book. However, considering that is there, wouldn't have done it a different way.

READ IF YOU ENJOY

• non likeable and flawed main characters
• self-aware narrator
• New York as a setting
• glamour, theatre and fashion
• women in a liberation and self-discovery journey

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Classism, Death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War

PTSD