Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

13 reviews

anushareflects's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

A layered, beautiful story of a lifelong friendship. An appropriate conclusion to a lifelong friendship that we follow through 4 books. In this we follow them into old age, between 1970s to the early 2000s. Filled with love, loss and strife. Ferrante has a compelling ability to infuse innumerable emotions into her writing, to bring out the beautiful but more importantly, the devastating and ugly parts of being alive. A brilliant series. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder and Suicide

risemini's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Medical content, Infidelity, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Gun violence, Grief, Cancer, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

readbycarina's review

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Toxic friendship, Child death, Grief, Hate crime, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Homophobia, Classism, Abandonment, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Mental illness, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Terminal illness

aliciae08's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

really wanted a redemption of sorts after Book 3 of this quartet, but I found this more unbearable than the last. 

The writing style of Ferrante is detailed and can be rich. However, it just went on. 

There were really tragic parts that you could feel:
- Tina
- Elena’s mother and their growing relationship
- Dede and Elsa’a clear neglect

But overall, I couldn’t stand Elena. I found her to be such an unreliable narrator so self-absorbed and playing the victim in the same way she attributes Nino to doing.   

There is also no clear resolution in 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Physical abuse

lindseyhall44's review

challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

I cannot believe that my favorite series has come to an end. There will never be enough words to describe how close the Neoploitan novels are to my heart or how strongly I urge you all to pick them up. I truly believe that Lila and Elena’s story will resonate with women and girls everywhere.
For myself, reading the story of Elena Greco feels like looking into a mirror. Her depiction of female friendship is so honest that it intertwines closely with mine and many others. The jealousy, vindictiveness, and other negative emotions that we struggle to put into words, both from embarrassment and denial, are candidly laid bare into the page for one last look into the city of Naples and a friendship that withstood the test of time. Thank you Elena and Lila for all that you have taught me, and for all that you have shown me I still need to learn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Child death

Moderate: Fatphobia

lenaricharz's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Drug abuse, and Child death

Minor: Murder and Cancer

hollsbookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Murder

radfordmanor's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

zezeki's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Infidelity, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Terminal illness

libbyhb's review

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

THIS BOOK. Wow. Absolutely loved it, definitely lived up to my expectations for the finale of this series. I liked how messy everything was in this installment - Elena's romantic relationships, her relationship with Lila as neighbors, her mother, the Solaras, etc. Having Elena and Lila live together and intertwine their lives again was a perfect way to bring this full circle to the first book, and I loved that whole section. I don't know what else I can say, this series made such an impact on me and I'm so so glad I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Drug use