Scan barcode
maddygreen54's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt
corallig's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"Das Gewicht all dessen, was in diesem Moment passiert, ist groß, doch das meiste ist längst geschehen."
"»Alles okay?«, fragte Benjamin.
»Ja«, antwortete Pierre und sah ihn fragend an. Benjamin wusste nicht, was er sagen sollte, er wusste selbst nicht, wie er die Frage gemeint hatte."
"Noch immer gab es Momente, in denen er spürte, was sie einander sein konnten."
"Als die Therapeutin ihn fragte, was er bei ihrem Tod empfunden habe, hatte Benjamin geantwortet, er habe gar nichts empfunden, aber vielleicht stimmte das nicht, vielleicht empfand er so viel, dass er nichts davon benennen konnte."
"»Alles okay?«, fragte Benjamin.
»Ja«, antwortete Pierre und sah ihn fragend an. Benjamin wusste nicht, was er sagen sollte, er wusste selbst nicht, wie er die Frage gemeint hatte."
"Noch immer gab es Momente, in denen er spürte, was sie einander sein konnten."
"Als die Therapeutin ihn fragte, was er bei ihrem Tod empfunden habe, hatte Benjamin geantwortet, er habe gar nichts empfunden, aber vielleicht stimmte das nicht, vielleicht empfand er so viel, dass er nichts davon benennen konnte."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt
cadams93's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Written in a weird order that kept giving me deja vu. Ultimately paid off with the twist at the end but the pace was so calm and random that I didn’t think there was a twist to look forward to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Grief, and Death of parent
sara_n's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Vomit, Bullying, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
archaicrobin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
I had no idea what The Survivors was about when I grabbed it, but I saw it EVERYWHERE! I’m so happy I decided to grab it from the library when I saw it because it was such a tragic and moving story about brothers and how they deal with the trauma of their childhoods.
The story is told backwards, starting at the end and making its way back to the beginning. Told from Benjamin’s perspective, the middle brother or three, you see glimpses of a dysfunctional, and at times abusive family, as they try to bond and enjoy themselves at their summer lake house in the Swedish wilderness.
Schulman does an excellent job of capturing that temperamental bond between siblings where you feel like you have a constant companion that you sometimes love fiercely but also sometimes hate with the same tenacity. While tragic, I could not put this down and finished it quickly in two days.
Warnings: animal cruelty, animal death, parent deaths.
The story is told backwards, starting at the end and making its way back to the beginning. Told from Benjamin’s perspective, the middle brother or three, you see glimpses of a dysfunctional, and at times abusive family, as they try to bond and enjoy themselves at their summer lake house in the Swedish wilderness.
Schulman does an excellent job of capturing that temperamental bond between siblings where you feel like you have a constant companion that you sometimes love fiercely but also sometimes hate with the same tenacity. While tragic, I could not put this down and finished it quickly in two days.
Warnings: animal cruelty, animal death, parent deaths.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Grief, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Suicide attempt
_inge_'s review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Read as part of the octa finals translated fiction of the BookTube Prize 2022, rating and review forthcoming when this round of judging ends.
This book has an interesting structure. It tells the story of an event that happened when the narrator was young. There are two time lines: the present is told by going back in time in steps of a couple of hours. On this day, three brothers reunite to scatter their mother's ashes in a place where they used to go on holiday - and where something happened that made them all survivors.
The storyline in the past is not as structured, there are loose memories and they slowly work up to something that happened and its aftermath. In the present time line, some things are revealed.
While reading the book, I had the feeling it was working towards some sad event involving the father for some reason, but that was not it. There really was no way to know what the ending would be - but in hindsight it gives a lot more depth to the book. This is one of those books that will probably reveal a bunch of clues when it is read again, knowing what was going on. The story structure makes the story more compelling than if it had been told chronologically - even with dual timelines. That was an excellent choice by the author.
This book has an interesting structure. It tells the story of an event that happened when the narrator was young. There are two time lines: the present is told by going back in time in steps of a couple of hours. On this day, three brothers reunite to scatter their mother's ashes in a place where they used to go on holiday - and where something happened that made them all survivors.
The storyline in the past is not as structured, there are loose memories and they slowly work up to something that happened and its aftermath. In the present time line, some things are revealed.
While reading the book, I had the feeling it was working towards some sad event involving the father for some reason, but that was not it. There really was no way to know what the ending would be - but in hindsight it gives a lot more depth to the book. This is one of those books that will probably reveal a bunch of clues when it is read again, knowing what was going on. The story structure makes the story more compelling than if it had been told chronologically - even with dual timelines. That was an excellent choice by the author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child death
ellaada's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
elieska's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide attempt
More...