Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner

13 reviews

cathy61r's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Child death, Pedophilia, and Ableism

culinaryjules's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-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? No

4.5

A beautiful historical fiction novel about two women, how their lives impact each other, WWII, and eugenics. The stories are painful and beautiful. I loved this book. I can’t wait to read more by Susan Meissner. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, War, Death of parent, Child death, and Genocide

thebookwormkatie's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: War

Minor: Death of parent and Child death

raebyday's review

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Pregnancy, Rape, and Death of parent

sabra327's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Grief, Death of parent, Car accident, Confinement, Rape, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy

jeehernandez87's review

informative sad 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

5.0

This book was so hard to read at times due to the ugly history of eugenics. Most have heard about the horrors that occurred during the time of WWII, but rarely do you hear of the absolutely evil acts that were being committed in the USA before, during and after that time. The goal of mutilation and murder in many ways mirrored the acts that Hitler and his regime carried out in what most Americans consider “so far away”. It was happening here, in the United States. I found the number of years it continued to happen to be shocking to say the least. 

My heart broke so many times, and I was on the verge of tears throughout so much of this book. Rarely do I feel this emotional when reading, but this one literally gave me all the feels. I don’t want to share spoilers, but near the end there was a moment that gave me goosebumps, and then immediately my heart sank just a bit as I empathized with the character and what this meant for their future. This happened many times throughout the book, and those that read this, will understand. I rarely give five stars but this certainly deserves it. 

On a final note, I think everyone should take the time to learn a bit about this time period, and what was happening in the USA. This was very eye opening for me, especially after reading through the author’s notes at the end. There are books that change you, your perception of history and what you think possible. This book will stay with me long after I finished reading it’s pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Car accident, Murder, Rape, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage

lgmelcher's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

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

4.75

Wow. There are some tough themes in this book (google for content warnings) but if you like reading stories of perseverance and characters who take action to try and right wrongs and stem the tide of atrocities, this book may be for you. Meissner is an auto-read author for me -- I appreciate the depth of her research and her treatment of challenging historical topics through complex characters and storylines. This one is well done on audio, too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Bullying, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, and Genocide

Minor: War

booknerdsinmn's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad medium-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Child death, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Infertility, and War

Minor: Death of parent and Physical abuse

kerrygetsliterary's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Ableism, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment, Infidelity, Grief, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Racism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Car accident, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Torture, War, and Physical abuse

okiecozyreader's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This book doesn’t read quickly like a thriller, however, I would say for me, that it moved at a quick pace. I couldn’t believe how quickly I could read it (even without skimming, because I didn’t want to miss anything happening). 

This story is mainly divided into 2 sections - which are almost 50% of the book each. The first section is the story of Rosie. Her parents died from a tragic accident and she was left in the care of the owner of the vineyard in which they worked. This couple used her as their servant - cooking and cleaning, while paying her half of what they paid other people who didn’t meet their demands - because she was young. She ends up pregnant and in the care of the state. Because she has synesthesia, she is sent to a state facility, which specializes in the care of those with serious psychological and other problems.

The second half is the story of Helen, the sister of the husband who Rosie lived with. She adored Helen, who sent Rosie special letters and even an amaryllis plant, which she treasures. This part of the book focuses on Helen’s life during WWII, where she is a nanny for a family in Austria, who has a daughter with special needs. 

Although this book covers many tough topics, I enjoyed reading it, and I couldn’t stop thinking about these characters throughout my time not reading. I am glad #bookfriendsbookclub chose this for a May selection.

Both stories focus on eugenics “good genes” - of course we know this happened with Nazi ideals of WWII, but much of this book describes eugenics in USA until the 1970s.
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“A life that will allow me to buy amaryllis bulbs to my heart’s content—the only “children” I will ever have. And I will have them. Windowsills full of them.” Ch 19

“How shortsighted I was, looking at newspaper stories of demolished buildings being cleared away, the debris being swept up and buried, and thinking the same was surely happening inside me. I should’ve known better. The human heart isn’t made of stone and wood and brick like the ruins of Europe are.” C 21

“love is a powerful force. Far more powerful than the strength I saw on display in Nazi-occupied Austria. Love, to overcome that kind of power, just needs to be unleashed from fear.” c34

“the only way, to keep close to you someone who is gone from your life. It is better than the alternative—isn’t it?—which is never having had them at all.” Ch34

“This is what makes us sublimely human, isn’t it? Not unsullied genetic perfection, but when we stubbornly love and honor one another.” Ch 36

“With giving, there is cost, isn’t there? There is always cost. Sometimes it is an easy sum to hand over. And sometimes it exacts from you the whole measure of your heart.” Epilogue

“I can very nearly see what Rosie is surely seeing at the sound, finally, of her daughter’s voice—the bursts of color, the whorls of perhaps magenta, cerulean, and goldenrod, tumbling about like jewels from heaven. I can almost see them. And they are beautiful” epilogue

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Grief

Moderate: Rape and Child death

Minor: Death of parent