Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Dance Tree: A Novel by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

24 reviews

k_ro's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Ce roman mêle ensemble plusieurs sujets durs pour en proposer un traitement adroit mais sombre, dans une langue riche et poétique malgré quelques maladresses.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

Attention, plusieurs thèmes difficiles sont abordés dans ce roman de manière explicite et récurrente. A lire en étant prête à une ambiance lourde.

katiefronk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Death, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicide

sauvageloup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I picked this up because it was on sale in Blackwell's and just liked the sound of it. Damn, I'm glad I did!

pros: 
- writing is poignant, powerful and weaves a compelling narrative, while never being especially verbose or wandering too far. The dialogue felt real enough for the period, but still intense and readable.
- the characters were all brilliant, they come to life gradually and several change over the period of the story, 

sophey from cruel to an ally, Nethe from cold to loving, henne from a decent man (in comparison to Plater) to cold and unlocking

although many of these are more the revealing of the true character that had been buried by trauma (apart from the latter of course).
- Lisbet showed great growth

both through her own bravery and strength, and through Eren, Nethe, Ida, Friedrich and Sophey's support of her. She is able to let go of her lifelong guilt, her grief for her mother, she is able to believe that she deserves better than Henne, she accepts and loves both a 'Turk' and a 'sodomite', because of who they are as people, and these are all huge things for her and yet the growth felt right and natural

 
- the setting, the history and the depiction of the dancing mania was all extremely evocative and intense, I could picture it all so well and you feel as if you're down there in the pulsing, dangerous crowds, or drowning in the smell of melting beeswax.
- lisbet's alliance with the bees and later the dog, Ulf, added another beautiful layer to her character and her skills as a beekeeper helped her realise her own worth, beyond being a wife and a mother.
- I loved the women's friendships, Lisbet's true love for Ida despite her mixture of jealousy and awe towards her friend, and Nethe's developing care and love for Lisbet, despite her initial fear of closeness.
- the significant tragedies of the book are balanced with successes, which stopped me from feeling betrayed at the end, which I sometimes am with tragic books. bitter sweet, I can do!
- Plater's grim awfulness is written in a way that is familiar but still ghastly, and the dread of his arrival is tangible every time he arrives.

cons:
-

it did plague me a few times that despite Lisbet's obvious love of Ida's children, she does leave them alone several times, when going to the forest or with Eren. I suppose we assume they are safe with the eldest daughter and ida's father, but I thought it odd that Lisbet didnt spare a thought

- also wish that the role of the eldest daughter as a replacement mother might have been examined a little.
-

I wish it hadnt ended like that with Eren, though of course I am glad Plater died. but it felt so unfair that Eren was blamed like that (though historically plausible I know) and there was no hint that those two might reunite, I thought. I know we see Lisbet's dissatisfaction with Henne and her love for Nethe, but I wish there had been a hint of the future. how could the two women leave now theyve got not just Lisbet's baby but all of Ida's children too? that's not ideal for running after Eren. so that was a bit of a shame. 
- it was of course upsetting, though somewhat expected from how saintly she is set up as, that Ida died. as Lisbet and Eren survived, couldnt Nethe and Ida have? it fitted with the story ofc, but it's a shame that it continues the 'bury your gays'

overall, I truly loved this haunting, sad, and powerful historical novel about the power of female friendship and love against loss, hardships and intolerance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Medical content, and Alcohol

one of the gay characters ends up dead by accidental overdose, and there is the threat of hanging

lorriss's review against another edition

emotional tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Slavery, Excrement, Alcohol, and Colonisation

thedukeofpuke_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Blood and Excrement

albon's review against another edition

emotional fast-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

znvisser's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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? No

2.25

Hmm this wasn't for me. For the first third of the book, nothing much happens. And just when I was about to DNF, the story picks up and gets interesting, only for it all to sizzle out again. This book had a compelling premise but unfortunately the main character was by far the most boring bit, her character only formed by motherhood, religion and whining. The other characters were way more interesting, and I understand that this helps create mystery for the MC, but a lot of repetitive time is spent mostly with her and I didn't really care for it. The use of the antagonist felt like reading a children's story, as if this book was somehow supposed to be a family tale. So even though I appreciated bits in the middle part, where this story crackles and comes to life, to me it wasn't worth struggling through the rest of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Alcohol

slinkmalink's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Other than the weird dream I had the night I finished it I really loved this book.

Though I was sad about a lot of things and wished that theyd had happier endings,

even though it was clear from the moment they mentioned the poppy that Ida wasn't going to survive I wanted her and Nethe to escape and live their own lives

, and

I felt that Lisbet really deserved a happier life away from Henne with her own child and possibly also Eren

, by the time I got to the end I was really convinced by it, it felt the most genuine way for the story to end 

in unexpected and grief forged love and finding the little miracles eg. of a child even through a life they wouldn't have chosen

and I think it would've been unsatisfying for them to all have happily ever afters bc that is simply not how the world worked especially for women and queer people and immigrants

I knew a little about the dancing plague (from horrible histories ofc) but not really anything about why people think it happened and how everyone else reacted to it. I thought the chapters about the dancers were beautifully written and worked really well at conveying the context that is thought to have led to the plague in a personal way, especially with regards to what women specifically endured at the time 

Also everything about the bees was beautiful

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

stagemanaginger's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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 very well written book, but I found it difficult to get through at times. It is 100% not for anyone dealing with infertility and I wish I had known that before reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence

edamamebean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

Every once in awhile a book comes along that makes reading feel like a fever. This was definitely one of those books, once I was reading it I couldn’t stop and the ending brought tears to my eyes. I highly recommend but please check the content warnings before picking this one up!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism