Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

50 reviews

hduc's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Violence, Animal death, Drug use, Addiction, Mass/school shootings, Pedophilia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Alcohol

itsbumley's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Police brutality, and Self harm

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual violence

cymbopogon's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

I'm still not sure whether I liked this book or not.

It was much darker and heavy with psychological issues than I was expecting.

I did not particularly enjoy having insights from the Book + interruptions from Benny + Tidy Magic (Kondo method but by a zen nun) in addition to the book itself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Forced institutionalization

desheebasara's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.25

This book already had me crying by page 14, it was really not what I expected and surprised me in a positive way.

It lost me a little bit in the middle, but not in a way that made me put it away.

I really really enjoyed Ruth Ozeki‘s writing style, pretty sure I have never read anything like it!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Car accident, Sexual violence, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Bullying, Drug abuse, Addiction, Animal death, and Death of parent

michaelion's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Very respectful of people with different minds. Very kind. Very well reseaeched into the intersections of people's lives and how their mental illnesses or impairities can / may be affected by outside factors. Very very, very real, living, loving book. 🥰 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Classism, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Confinement, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Fatphobia, Medical content, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Car accident, Racial slurs, Violence, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Rape, Cancer, and Pedophilia

futuretreeman's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

I was in my favorite bookstore when we found each other. It's kind of a hole-in-the-wall used-book bookstore. But the hole goes surprisingly far back and the precariously leaning bookshelves touch the ceiling. It's a magical place that never fails to house several books I'm interested in. It was the first place I visited when I moved to college and the last place I visited when I dropped out.

Just like the book-within-the-book "Tidy Magic", 'The Book of Form and Emptiness', flew off the shelf to me. I was in the middle of several projects about homes and objects, the way objects feel and the way they make us feel and the memories they help us make. I even wrote poems about forks and spoons and napkins.

I was also beginning some self-discovery at the time. My dad died too when I was a little kid and after years of ignoring how it hurt, I finally started to recognize how it really made me feel and who I had turned into.

By the time I finished the book, I had gone through other changes too. I learned what a terrific friend I had been in college, unreliable, apathetic, and exactly the kind of person I had always feared becoming. I went through back-and-forth stages of putting the blame all on me, all on my friends, and realizing we all had roles to play.

I've felt much like Benny. I even feel like Annabelle as I write this review.

The certainly hasn't changed my life, and it will take far more than words on a page to heal my hurt and the hurt I've caused others. But this book has had a marvelous impact on me. I sometimes find myself wondering if a hot pan burns because it is angry at you for hurting it by putting it in the oven. But my family hasn't read this book and they'd think I was crazy if I said it out loud.

If you've read the book, you understand.

And if you find a book that makes you feel this way, listen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Death, and Self harm

Moderate: Drug abuse, Body horror, Car accident, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Confinement, Blood, Bullying, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

morgancleaver's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Addiction

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, and Drug use

schopflin's review against another edition

funny reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

This is a very good book, and has lots of touch points for me (librarianship, materiality of the book, even media monitoring) but there was something just a bit soft-centred and sprawling about it. It's highly readable though, don't let that put you off. It has echoes of Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai which is less pageturning and more cynical, and which I preferred. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, and Drug abuse

Minor: Mass/school shootings

ericaw212's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

4.25

it was hard to get into but the formatting is really cool. and i love a book that asks what is real and doesn’t answer it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death and Self harm

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Addiction

apersonfromflorida's review

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Self harm

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Fatphobia, Police brutality, Animal death, Car accident, and Forced institutionalization