Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin

4 reviews

vonni's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

If you're like me and enjoy a pastoral, alpine, mystery book with luscious descriptions and haunting tones, this book is a must read. It's a bit slow to start, but the intrigue of the setting kept me engaged and I am so thankful that I stuck around for the whole novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Abandonment, Grief, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Infertility, Animal death, Bullying, and Pregnancy

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

1.0

No idea what the point of all that was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Excrement, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Bullying, Infertility, Medical content, and Child death

radtastical's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Grief, Animal death, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexism, Abandonment, Stalking, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, and Bullying

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.5

Out June 28, 2022 [Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Vera has lived her entire life in a small town with a unique affliction—mothers spontaneously vanish without warning, and without a trace. But when she becomes a mother herself, she finally begins to question the affliction—and whether she will have to lose her daughter to save herself.

Frankly, this is a bit of a weird book. It’s beautifully written, but it also has incredibly long chapters and a plot where not a ton happens. I’m a big fan of what I consider “creeping dystopia” novels, where the horror of the world slowly builds until you realize its true colors, and although this has some of those vibes, I think I wanted a bit more of it. I also didn’t love the characters, which meant I didn’t really sympathize with anyone as much as I wanted to.

All of that said, there is a lot to redeem this book—it is short but packs an emotional punch, it is decidedly original, and it is definitely thought-provoking, especially for the current moment in time where questions about motherhood and our treatment of mothers are more relevant than ever. While it didn’t fully land with me, I definitely didn’t dislike it—so if the premise sounds interesting to you I’d recommend giving it a chance.

Recommended if you like: unique feminist dystopia; questions about motherhood; short and emotional reads.

CW: Sexual assault; loss of parent; loss of child.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Child death