Reviews tagging 'Death'

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

20 reviews

meliemelo's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

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

3.25

 It took me a while to get into it, and had I stopped a few chapters in, my overall impression would be that I didn't like it. I did however come to admire at least the form, the effort in trying different styles and ideas (one chapter towards the end comes to mind especially). Once I saw what the author was trying to do, I appreciated it much more, even though I still found it all a tad too bleak for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Death, and Drug use

gwendle_vs_literature's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

I bought this not knowing what it was — it was one of those “blind dates with a book” where you get it wrapped on brown paper with a vague description on the outside and pay a fraction of the normal cover price. It’s the first time I’ve actually been interested enough to buy one. It was described as “Dubliners for the digital age”, and it lived up to that.

This is an excellent book. It reads more like a collection of short stories, with each chapter focused  on a different character, but the way they all weave together and connect in the end is really impressive and beautiful, and by the time I’d finished it I understood why it’s billed as a novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, and Drug use

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Vomit

One chapter/story was difficult to read because it describes an attempted sexual assault from the perspective of the person who had committed it, so be careful of that if it might be triggering for you — chapter 9. There are other mentions of that event, as well as sketchy situations with sexual relationships between adults and minors, but chapter 9 is the one that’s overtly violent.

kristin_h_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Drug use

murakamiangel's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

4.5

mmmm pretty darn good and pretty world built around this [goon] squad of characters followed.

inconsistent time skips and perspective jumps work like new short stories 

the sasha portion in the second half oof beautifully written

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicide attempt

currer_bell's review against another edition

inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Death

sm_moon's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Self harm

Moderate: Death and Suicide attempt

lucinotlucy's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

adelaide_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

alsoapples's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-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

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

jessreadsthings's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, and Self harm

Minor: Cancer, Suicide, Death, Cursing, Addiction, Grief, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content