Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

9 reviews

imogenlj's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

I reached 12 pages in and said ‘this book is special’. What a reading experience! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

fjerda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? No

4.0

‘We used to think she would turn up one day and say it had all been a test.’ Porter knows grief intimately and was able to make my chest feel heavy with a talented ease. The book is bitter and the book is hopeful. A rewarding read. 

I would recommend annotating as you read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

_rowan_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Excrement, Grief, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, and Violence

velokei's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.0

An exploration of grief that hurt my heart. I think there were some parts that went over my head a little, there’s probably a deeper meaning to crows rambles. I’d recommend looking up the names if you don’t recognise them, as knowing about Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath is important to the narrative. I liked that grief itself wasn’t an obstacle to get over, simply a long project that you never really finish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Animal death

izzybell's review

emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Animal death

megelizabeth's review

challenging dark emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

"I plucked one jet feather from my hood and left it on his forehead, for, his, head.

For a souvenir, for a warning, for a lick of night in the morning.

For a little break in the mourning."

This was my third time reading this book, and I previously absolutely loved it, but sadly enjoyed it a bit less this time around. I still appreciated the bold writing style and vivid, unique exploration of grief, loss, family life, and parenthood, and it's certainly a poignant read and one that I won't forget, but this time I found myself feeling more irritated by the pretension and a lot less emotionally connected to the characters and story (there's a deliberately distant tone, but I still felt much more connected during previous reads).

It's a shame that I don't love this book as much now as I previously did, but I'd still recommend it as a super interesting and weird and haunting little read.

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Content Warnings

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

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

waybeyondblue's review

dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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