Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

34 reviews

paronomaniac's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, and Child death

Minor: Suicide

sarahbsews's review against another edition

mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, War, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Suicide, and Murder

cassiealexandra's review against another edition

4.5

This book was such a wonderful mixture. It blended genres well and also blended humor and heavy, difficult situations seamlessly. I was surprised that it was so much funnier and so much sadder than I expected. I loved the characters. Opaline’s desire to venture out on her own and not be tied to an arranged marriage in the 1920s was captivating. Martha’s escape from an abusive marriage and subsequent journey to discover herself was satisfying. Henry was quirky and funny (I loved his internal dialogue and asides) and I loved his scholarly pursuits leading him to the recognition of true fulfillment.

While I mostly loved this book, I did have a little trouble with the switches between points of view, particularly from Martha (modern) and Opaline (1920s-1940s). I don’t know that their voices or storylines were that similar, but I wonder if maybe the ends of each chapter didn’t leave me with enough of a cliffhanger or urge to move forward that I felt the strong transition. The exploration of women’s freedoms and struggles in the early timeline was horrifying and I’m sure, accurate, but I did find the statements made about it to be overused the tiniest bit. One or two fewer references would have made the point stronger, in my opinion.

The bottom line: I really enjoyed this mixture of historical and contemporary fiction with a dash of magical realism and a whole lot of literary references and book love.

— NOTES —
Genres: magical realism, contemporary & historical fiction, romance subplot(s)
POV: first-person, multiple
Content: domestic violence, on-page death, stillbirth, childbirth, off-page suicide
Romance: multiple fade-to-black scenes

— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 4.75
My Gut Feeling: 4.5
Total Stars: 4.438 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Death and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicide

laurennicole98's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, and Death

Moderate: Child death, War, Suicide, and Grief

mdavis26's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Violence, War, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Suicide

kwthor's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

ceruleanorchid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicide, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Suicide, Stalking, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

devanjoy's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicide

magneticornot's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

Clearly lovingly researched, with the historically linked sections far and away the most compelling and well written. 
I liked the bones of the story, but the character interactions seem rushed. Like they are jumping straight to important moments to hit certain beats in order to move the story along, but without many of the emotions really feeling justified or coming through for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Forced institutionalization

cskinner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This book was just hard to love. It seemed to start out promising; the characters felt like they were close to being something interesting and the story had intrigue, but after about 25% in, some veil of artificiality never really lifted for me on the characters and dialogue. I enjoyed the parts about the past much more than the ones about the present. I think I was expecting more focus on some of the mystical elements of this book and it fell short for me. It also had long stretches of dark and depressing events, which I can be ok with, but here, I wasn’t, because they led to little payoff in character development or advancing the plot. Overall, I liked the concept, the dual timeline, and some of the themes, but it wasn’t very enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Misogyny