Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade

23 reviews

oceanelle's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

Beautifully written and very tender in the way each character is given the space to be their fullest, most realistically flawed selves while they move through a huge period of transition together. Everyone is hurting and healing all at once, and I wanted to give Angel a hug the entire time. As for Amadeo, it’s beyond me how I can still have a soft spot for him despite wanting to rip him a new one, but maybe that’s the most realistic depiction of family there is. 

(It’s infuriating that Brianna

faces zero consequences for fucking up Angel’s life

, but that’s also par for the course with white saviors, so.)

I would’ve loved for

Amadeo’s last car accident

to have appeared a bit sooner so we could see more of a reckoning followed by some slow healing—I didn’t totally buy that Angel’s worst nightmare could come true and she wouldn’t finally tell Amadeo about himself—but I can also appreciate how tired she is. How over it they all are. 

Not the book for you if you want a strong plot, but definitely for you if you care about characters that are shown to be their best and worst selves and everything in between.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Car accident, Death, and Grief

Minor: Self harm

schlady's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A realistic portrayal of a year in the life of an imperfect family living through even less perfect circumstances. Very strong writing in the senses of family & place in New Mexico, also well narrated as an audiobook. The main characters were overall likable even after making difficult, frustrating, unlikable choices; I really felt for all of them as their stories twisted and turned and intertwined.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Sexual content, Child abuse, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Blood, Medical content, Alcoholism, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Rape, Classism, Racism, Abortion, Drug use, and Drug abuse

annahelle's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

this is such a solid book! really glad i read it. the author did an amazing job at expressing the characters’ thoughts, insecurities, flaws, behaviors, etc. she was really good at describing facial expressions and body language too. just a great job exploring the interior lives of this family. i really felt like i knew the characters and their thought processes. great character development. definitely a character > plot narrative, but the story was still entertaining and devastating and emotional too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Dementia, Death of parent, Cancer, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Sexism, and Self harm

Minor: Blood, Incest, Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Car accident, and Child death

stacey_l's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Terminal illness, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship

ashwaar's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.25

 This is death, then: a brief spot of light on earth extinguished, a rippling point of energy swept clear. A kiss, a song, the warm circle of a stranger’s arms—these things and others—the whole crush of memory and hope, the constant babble of the mind, everything that composes a person—gone.

As in the above quote, the writing in The Five Wounds is absolutely beautiful. Our story follows the Padilla family in the remote, forgotten town of Las Penas in New Mexico. Amadeo has been chosen to play the crucified Jesus in the annual Good Friday procession when his mother, Yolanda, receives an unexpected medical diagnosis, and his 15-year-old pregnant daughter, Angel, turns up on his doorstep after a fight with her mother. Despite the challenging circumstances and questionable decisions, the new infant brings several generations together and pushes them to re-evaluate their choices, identities and importance to those closest to them.

The story tells the harsh reality of living in a small, dwindling community in America that nobody seems to care about and what happens to the people who grow up in these places and the futures they’re told they can never have. There are some really strong commentaries on the problems afflicting these small communities, and I have provided trigger warnings below, but it can make it a little harrowing to read at times.

I want to be clear that all the characters are deeply flawed and really quite unlikeable. They make mistakes, don’t take responsibility, run away from their problems and get caught up in fantasies without thinking about reality. But you still root for them far more than the people or challenges they come up against. You keep wanting them to do better, even if you sometimes have to put the book down out of sheer frustration that they’re making terrible choices.. again…

In addition, some characters are a bit over the top, like Angel’s teacher, Brianna, who cannot get over the fact that she’s a virgin and feels inferior in educating these young women on childbirth and parenthood. Lizette can also be written a little over the top at times, and it feels a bit exploitative to the reader.

However, the writing is beautiful, and the family are messed up and broken but slowly putting themselves back together and creating something that isn’t perfect but is theirs, and that's really admirable. It’s a bit on the long side, and I found it faltered in pace at some points, but overall, it's a really strong, challenging, character-focused read.

Rating: 4.25/5

Recommendations: Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González, Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

Trigger Warnings: addiction, alcoholism, cancer, car accident, death, domestic abuse, grief, medical content, pregnancy, rape, self harm, sexual assault, terminal illness 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Cancer

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Medical content, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Self harm, Rape, and Sexual assault

abbie_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

Stunning, a new favourite for sure. A must read if you’re a fan of generational stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcoholism, Medical content, Terminal illness, Car accident, Cancer, Vomit, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Lesbophobia, Rape, and Self harm

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

4.0

This is a story that follows the members of one family over the course of roughly a year. Each family member is relatively dysfunctional and has made mistakes. Now, with things changing they are each forced to grow and change.

I thought this book was pretty interesting. All of the characters are highly dysfunctional, but still relatable. I personally felt frustrated with them on many occasions, but ultimately couldn’t help but root for them.

I did find the pacing a little bit slow. At times the story did drag a bit or get a little redundant, but it was a minor thing.

All in all, if you really like deep explorations of characters and their motivations, this is for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Car accident, Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Abandonment, Drug use, Grief, and Homophobia

internationalreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape and Incest

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

I’m not going to lie, I really wasn’t that invested in this book at first. I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of characters that were thrown at me, in addition to this feel that the book started in media res. It probably didn’t help that I found a handful of them irksome. I want to say that I warmed up to them, but the reality is, I didn’t. Some of them just didn’t get the redemption arc we always want to see or something of that nature, but I could tell this was a deliberate choice given how complex Quade’s characters were that she was able to get such conflicted feelings out of me. I wouldn’t quite say The Five Wounds is a string of elaborate character studies, but I have to commend Quade for going so in-depth with each character’s beliefs, moods, personality, etc. I felt this was the case even for the side characters, and, in the end, they were the ones that really brought the story together more than anything else.

I don’t think this book was meant to give a satisfying ending or sense of resolution. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll find this book to be a disappointment. If you’re looking for likeable characters or characters to root for, you’re also not going to really find that here. However, if you want an in-depth exploration of the messiness of humans and their relationships with those around them, The Five Wounds is rich with content on this front.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content, Car accident, Drug abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault

nick13's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This book was so incredible! The writing was so great and the way the author really delved into how people think and act was just so interesting and amazed me. They weren't good people, they didn't do many logical things, yet that is how people act and what made them so grounded. 
<The moments with Yolanda and her drowning feeling of her dying and the very last moments before she died were so heavy and so amazingly conveyed. I also loved how Angel tried so hard to help Lizette yet she kicked her out, showing how it is up to the other person to take your help and to also forgive themselves and also the moment where Brianna kicks Angel out of the program due to her pint up anger towards Amadeo and the crushing feeling of about to get kicked out of her job./>

Overall, this book was really movie, carried heavy themes of forgiveness that really hit home for me. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time and I cherish the time I took to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Cancer, Car accident, Grief, Self harm, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Rape