booksnest's review

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emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.0

This book is ultimately about grief and about how we deal with it and how we move on. Following a seven year old main character as she navigates this journey for the first time. 

This writing is just lovely, so many relatable lines that offer hope and reflection to the reader. Credit to Henning Koch for doing such a brilliant job of maintaining the beauty of this book through the art of translation.

This book balanced a made up world with a very real and stark reality and showed how the two knit together in a way I felt was reminiscent of the film Big Fish, which was an aspect I really liked. Although I felt I was waiting for the plot to pick it’s direction for about half of the book, which made it quite slow going for me for quite a while. But once the pacing picked up, I couldn’t put this book down and found myself falling in love with all the characters, even the worse I started off strongly disliking. 

A really beautiful story, with beautiful messages and a really unique and inspiring young lead.

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mscalls's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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jordangddrd's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful reflective sad 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

Only Fredrik Backman could get me to cry over a paintball stain 

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kscheffrahn's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-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

4.75


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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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emotional 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? No

4.5

I think I cried through the entirety of this book. Some were joyful tears, some were heartbreaking tears, and some were ‘oh my gosh this is some of the best writing I have ever read’ tears. “My Grandmother asked me to tell you she’s sorry” follows seven year old Elsa on her journey to cope with grief, but also her journey as she heals, creates meaningful bonds, and most importantly of all, savors an unconditional love for stories. Just like Elsa, this book is different in the best ways, a beautiful exploration of dreamers and believers. 

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marija2510's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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grizzlysnack's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted 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

2.5


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cynthiareads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.5


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alessandravaron's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.75


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the_bookworm's review against another edition

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

4.0


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