Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

8 reviews

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

My favorite thing about this book is it shows how messy grief is. Grief is not a neat package of sadness -> anger -> acceptance, or however many stages there might be. Grief is disgusting, indulgent, and (occasionally) violent. This book shows that - from the cursing to the despondency to the piss and shit. And it's interwoven with absolutely heartrending statements on what it is to lose someone and the mess they leave behind. As stated early on in the book, it's an apartment of "no-longer hers", and it doesn't have the care that comes with slow illness.

Now what? I'm just supposed to go on with my day? Crow would laugh at that but also agree - both in literal and in intent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Gore and Sexual content

pdonovan's review

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

Minor: Sexual content

foxwish's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

1.0

A few moments were genuinely touching, but the majority of the book is indecipherable due to the unique writing style and the overuse of crass language was almost offensive given the subject matter. It was very difficult to emotionally invest in the characters of the story and it felt like very little actually happened.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

sxndaze's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.25

It’s mesmerizing to read. The cadence is melodic in a sense and while the prose is confusing and dark, it represents grief in that way. It’s complicated and simple and a lot and not all at once. An interesting read to say the least.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Violence

lief_'s review

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

bookleafcrow's review

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

I read this book in one sitting upon recommendation of a friend, and it more than lived up to my few expectations. This book is a quick, easy read on the surface, but the content makes it a bit tougher to digest, as well as the chaotic style. Whilst I wouldn't say this book is for everyone, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and believe it to have one of the best depictions of children coping with parental bereavement in anything I've read. Very crass and abstract at times, but very sincere to the concept of sudden bereavement and single parenthood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexual content

Minor: Violence and Vomit

darkefyres's review

reflective sad fast-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, and Animal death

Minor: Sexual content

short_circuit's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? N/A

3.75

'i miss her so much it is a vast golden prince, a concert hall, a thousand trees, a lake, nine thousand buses, a million cars, twenty million birds and more. the whole city is my missing her.'

i first found this book in a criminal minds fanfiction of all things. the title caught my attention, as did some of the quotes mentioned. i picked it up a few days later and finished it in a couple hours. it's a short read compared to most books, but that doesn't mean it's a bad book. quite the opposite.

 grief is the thing with feathers is about a father and his two sons dealing with the loss of their mother. it's written from the perspective of the father, the sons, and grief itself, personified as a large black crow. crow acts as a demented nanny mcphee—it won't leave until the father and his sons no longer need it. it's written in an interesting way: an odd sort of prose, choppy sentences, euphemisms, that sort. i wasn't sure at first if i liked it. i'm still not sure. but there's something about grief is the thing that has stuck with me, even months later.

there's a part of the book where the father reminisces on the little things his wife will never do again. another part mentions him and his sons doing little things they knew used to annoy her, but it wasn't out of any malice. they just missed her and were expressing it, however unconsciously.

i lost my grandfather a few years ago. he had been on the decline for several months until the day he ended up in hospital. my mother told me he likely wouldn't make it until christmas, but a small part of me knew even that was too large an estimate. he was gone less than a week later.
i miss him every day. i miss his box of dilly bars in the freezer, and his drawer of hard candies in his bedside table. i miss him picking me up from school when i was young. i miss his yodelled rendition of happy birthday. i miss his sunflowers in the backyard. i miss his big golf shirts. i miss hearing the squeak of his recliner as he settled in to watch the news after dinner. i miss watching him play solitaire on our ancient computer. i miss his smile. i miss his big booming laugh.
there are things in life that we don't realize we will miss until they're gone. this book does an excellent job at reminding us of this.

i don't regret buying this book, even if it didn't turn out to be written as i expected. i think this is a lovely read, and does well to show how grief can affect people both old and young. three point seven-five stars!

'and the boys shouted

I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU

and their voice was the life and song of their mother. unfinished. beautiful. everything.'

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content