Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

60 reviews

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-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

4.0

This book was mind-blowing. I’ve always been interested in string theory on a very basic level and that’s what this book plays around with. What if there’s a version of us for every decision we make? What if there is an infinity of universes out there? I loved the thrill of watching the character grapple with this. The characters were multifaceted. And there’s a word limit on here now so I guess that’s it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dev921's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

amsswim's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

This is science fiction I would recommend to everyone. Great read. Makes you reflect on everything you have done in your life as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Car accident

kirtreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This is the kind of book that is really going to sit with me for a while. I had no idea what this book was really about going into it apart from everyone saying it was a great novel so I really did not anticipate the wild ride that I got. I was never quite sure where it was going and what was happening, so it was a great summer read. 

This book was a lot of fun, and I thought that all the actual science parts were well explained but I never felt too bogged down with information. I thought that Jason was compelling enough to really care about what happens. This book did have a little bit of a perfect white man saviour issue, but it never got obnoxious and I actually think that it thematically helped the novel. Sometimes this really drives me nuts but it didn't become a big issue for me. The two women in the novel are not over the top emotional and total idiots so it has some saving grace. 

I am still mulling over the ending and I am not 100% sold on loving the ending but I think that it was the only way that it all could have ended. This book leaves you with a lot of big questions not only about the story but also philosophically and I am not sure if I love the way that he wrapped up these large ideas. 

My only other complaint is that the pacing dragged a little in the middle. By the nature of the story it was very cyclical but I could have done with a few less cycles. Overall though, I think its a great read if you are looking for something pretty action packed and relatively fast paced outside of the normal thriller genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

shayshays055's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content

aas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

_david_'s review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

2.0

Oof to me, every part of this book missed its mark. In general I found everything in the book a bit over the top. 

First of all, Jason is supposed to be a genius. Yet it takes him ages to even think of the theory which can be figured out as a reader very quickly. If you've figured it out before Jason, there's not much joy in reading the story until he has figured it out too. You're just waiting and turning the pages until he does and you can finally continue. The way he acts is so hard to relate to. It's very hard to imagine the situations he encounters so it's hard to emphasize with his choices. However, at least after it all goes wrong once you'd think he change his behaviour right? 

Secondly, I'd like to discuss the science behind it. To me, it's very noticable that what we're reading has been written by an author who wanted to tell a story and then looked up the physic theories which would fit it best. The logic is not consistent and some of it almost works like magic. Yet the characters in the book use big words and existing theories to clarify the science behind it all. This is a very personal ick, I've barely ever encountered a piece of media that manages to do this well. The only ways I have seen this be pulled off, is to make up your own very clear very consitent rules or just pretend it's magic and do not explain it beyond what is necessary. 

My favourite part of the book beyond the very first chapter, in which Jason only talks about his family night and life choices, are the final few chapters. Yet I wish they pushed a little further. Let Jason be a little more selfish or a little more existential. I've read another review which points out a major flaw related to the inconsistent physics which did ruin these last chapters for me as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Police brutality, Car accident, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

melaschnie's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Abortion, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol