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rubyolive's review against another edition
Not for me at the moment, wasn't expecting something that happens early on and couldn't get past it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
When God was a Rabbit unfolds over four decades. At its centre is a loving but flawed family, an especially close bond between sister and brother, and an extended cast of sometimes eccentric characters - including a pet rabbit named God. The plot is rich and multi-layered exploring both the general - friendship, coming of age - as well as the specific - the impact of 9/11. I loved Sarah Winman’s Still Life and this, her debut, has a very similar feel. She excels at creating memorable characters and capturing the bittersweet moments of the human experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Grief and Death
Minor: Homophobia
miri42's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
abbruzzese's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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
4.5
I never felt complete without him. In truth, I never would.
And he uncovered in us a curious need: that we each secretly wanted him to remember us the most. It was strange, both vital and flawed, until I realised that maybe the need to be remembered is stronger than the need to remember.
yet another book that had me in tears for a good chunk of it, the last 1/3 or so. the story is well-written, with good pacing, and the characters are nothing short of loveable.
the first half of the book, breezy and almost whimsical, had me reminiscing on fond childhood memories of my own with rose-coloured glasses firmly in place. the second half, quite frankly, hurt. it becomes a cruelly bittersweet tale about the hardships of life and the things we all come face-to-face with at one point or another.
my only criticism is how loosely god (the rabbit) was incorporated into the story. maybe i'm missing something, maybe there's symbolism that hasn't occurred to me yet, but i felt like god's role in the story was weak, secondary at best, and then he
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Pedophilia, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Animal death, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault
moderate/graphic description of 9/11welshbookfairy's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
—
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse and Child abuse
jacob94's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual content
ceejcook's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Cancer, Death, and Animal death
Minor: Child abuse and Injury/Injury detail
irelivar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse
jodieworton's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a book from my bookswap and I am so so glad I picked it up this month.
🔆When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman🔆
The story centres on the life of Elly, starting when she is young and further on in the book, her adult life. You are introduced to her family, her best friend Jenny Penny and her pet rabbit, given to her by her brother, called God (who also talks to her).
One of my favourite parts of the book is the description of each character. It is explained in a way you just ‘get’ the characters and understand their eccentricities. I loved reading about Jenny Penny and also Ellys love for her, she saw Jenny as fearless and aspired to be like her in many ways, I found that I thought of Jenny as magical.
You realise soon the book is about love and family, but mostly the love and relationship between the siblings, Elly and Joe. Joe holds a secret about Ellys childhood that he keeps well into their adult life. Only when he looses his memory and gradually gets it back does he break her trust.
This book focuses on the terror attack of 9/11, it kind of crept up on me. I realised I had watched a lot of docs/films about 9/11 but never read a story that could be construed as true. It was very well done, it was emotional and heart breaking.
I highly recommend this book, it was slow paced but I enjoyed that.
🔆When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman🔆
The story centres on the life of Elly, starting when she is young and further on in the book, her adult life. You are introduced to her family, her best friend Jenny Penny and her pet rabbit, given to her by her brother, called God (who also talks to her).
One of my favourite parts of the book is the description of each character. It is explained in a way you just ‘get’ the characters and understand their eccentricities. I loved reading about Jenny Penny and also Ellys love for her, she saw Jenny as fearless and aspired to be like her in many ways, I found that I thought of Jenny as magical.
You realise soon the book is about love and family, but mostly the love and relationship between the siblings, Elly and Joe. Joe holds a secret about Ellys childhood that he keeps well into their adult life. Only when he looses his memory and gradually gets it back does he break her trust.
This book focuses on the terror attack of 9/11, it kind of crept up on me. I realised I had watched a lot of docs/films about 9/11 but never read a story that could be construed as true. It was very well done, it was emotional and heart breaking.
I highly recommend this book, it was slow paced but I enjoyed that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
9/11 attack is detailedelouisewills's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Though this book had an interesting premise, I feel as though it was poorly executed, overly-packed full of content that made for a bit of a mess of storylines, and seemed almost too fantastical, not for the magical realism of the rabbit, but for the family.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Gore, Homophobia, and Rape