Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

16 reviews

kalaser's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

michad's review

adventurous emotional sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

A good book. The frenchisms take a little getting used to and the presence of cars feels so out of place and anachronistic. I was expecting more exploration of the mechanics and secrets of the world, the change in direction of the second half took me by surprise. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

kiwichill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Gun violence, Excrement, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

carissa230's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

In this book there are many versions of the same world next to each other. You can travel 20 years into the future or 20 years into the past. There is a group called the Conseil that decides if you can travel. The only reason they allow is for grief. Grieving a loved one that was lost unexpectedly or to see someone in the future when you know you are dying. 

When Odile sees a friends family members on a grief tour on accident, she knows something bad is going to happen. She is drawn ever closer to Edme as the days go by. When she accidently lets it slip to a teacher she is chosen to try out for the Conseil. She is on a great trajectory until the inevitable happens and Edme passes. Odile can't live with the decisions that the Conseil are forced to make. 

Odile is living a bland life. She helps people travel to the future. When she runs into an old friend and is thrown back into her old life. She starts to wonder what would happen if she actually broke the law and saved her friend. She knows it would be the end of her life, but it could give him a chance. She took an oath though and doesn't want her life to end. 

Interesting perspective. I can't imagine what most anyone would do if they had the opportunity to just go into the past or into the future. It would be utter chaos. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.75

Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free copy of this book.

 - Fans of literary sci-fi, gather round, because THE OTHER VALLEY is made for you.
- The quiet, spare prose calls to mind NEVER LET ME GO, which is then layered with multifaceted, unanswerable questions about morality, grief, and the road not taken.
- This book takes several unexpected turns and kept me guessing, and also trying to sort out what I would do in Odile’s place.
- The logistics of this society and how the Conseil structure came to be are never really explained, but I kind of enjoyed how the details were waved away and this book was just allowed to be a character study and extended thought experiment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

meganpbell's review

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

An isolated town is neighbored by its past to the West and its future to the East. The Conseil regulates travel between towns, giving few the chance to see lost loved ones. Odile’s life changes forever when she glimpses a friend’s parents, visiting from the future. While the premise is fascinating and the ideas about fate, free will, and time interesting, and I can see readers of Ishiguro's understated speculative masterpieces enjoying this book, I was ultimately disappointed that grief felt utterly misunderstood in this story to me--and I happen to have experienced losses similar to the main character--and I was frustrated at the lost opportunity. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Suicide, Kidnapping, Murder, and Alcohol