Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Fato e Furia by Lauren Groff

16 reviews

minnfinnfiction's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

Mixed feelings 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Abortion, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child death

bronzeageholly's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Reading this book felt like I was in a big room full of people with special headphones on where I could only pick up bits of a conversation at a time. I was being slowly led through by someone I didn’t quite know and didn’t quite understand. It felt like I meandered so dreamily past, but was given just enough time to understand each passing person’s deepest fears and thoughts. After time, quite a long time, being led through the room, my guide took me to the top of the stairs and I looked over the balcony and was so shocked to see how everything and everybody we had passed came together so vibrantly and horrifically and beautifully.

I appreciate this book for how much it made me contemplate human existence.

It was very long though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Death of parent, Suicide, Grief, Death, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, and Body shaming

Minor: Drug use and Toxic friendship

ruthie_the_librarian's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

 At the point where I felt like I had been reading forever, I saw I still had about 85% (9 hours...) left to read and I very nearly lost the will to go on. But it's for my book group, and I don't like to dnf because then I can't talk about it, but oh my goodness it was hard going! The first part of the book is all Lotto, which is perhaps why it was so trying to read. I was torn between wanting to know what would happen to him, and thinking he was a dick. I did feel the pace picked up in the 2nd half with Mathilde, but perhaps that was just because I could sense the end was in sight. It is too, too long. There is too, too much bad sex. And nobody was very nice at all. I was intrigued, at least, with what on earth we were going to learn about Mathilde when it came to her part of the story. And I did race through the last part because of it. But ultimately, I'm not sure it was worth it, and it really bothered me that

although Mathilde has been editing and tweaking Lotto's work for years, managing his money, managing him, her own writing ends up being a failure.
What was the message here? That she was only useful with regards to his career? That annoyed me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Abortion

lindsey_bear's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This was a tough one—I loved Groff’s writing style, but I just found Fates and Furies too slow. I wasn’t very hooked by Lotto’s story in the “Fates” section. I found the background of his career development too dragged out and uninterested/not essential to the plot. Based on the reviews, I tried to stick in it until the end, but by the thick of the “Furies” section, I was a bit over the character development and just wanted to know what happened. I’d be interested in checking out more of Groff’s writing, but this one just wasn’t it for me. I feel if I was able to connect with the characters a bit more, maybe it would have been more engaging. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Car accident, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Abortion, Death of parent, Classism, Death, and Grief

jennifermackaman's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Child death

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Fatphobia

valjeanval's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

5.0

I wouldn’t pick up a book that basically said “it’s about a marriage” except that Lauren Groff wrote it. What an incredible, complex, brilliant exploration of a marriage.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Death

Minor: Sexual content, Child death, Cursing, Abortion, Cancer, Grief, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, and Self harm

tyyne's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense 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? Yes

2.0

Sadly I really didn’t enjoy this. The characters were all very unlikeable and the writing style was not enjoyable for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

jjenkins's review against another edition

HIGHLY TRIGGERING BOOK!! The author should have been much more clear regarding content warnings, because not even 10% into the book there are several extremely triggering events. I will not be continuing this book, and would have much preferred to have known ahead of time what I might encounter. It should be required to list content warnings for books such as this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug abuse, Addiction, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Excrement, Fatphobia, Death, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Bullying, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

If you are interested in this book, be advices that the author has not clearly and accessibly listed content warnings. This is a highly triggering book from the beginning.

carlytenille's review against another edition

dark tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abortion, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The writing in this story blew me away; it is so poetic, lyrical, heart wrenching, and hopeful, all in the same breath. 
This story is split in two. The first half of the book is told through the perspective of Lotto, and the second half of the book we get to explore his wife, Mathilde's, perspective. Lotto is a bold, passionate man who comes from wealthy parents, but does not get to see any money because he goes against his mother's wishes and marries Mathilde. Following an accident in her childhood, Mathilde is sent to live with her wealthy uncle, and she never hears from her parents. 
There are always three sides to every story, and I loved getting to see how their marriage evolved over 20+ years through each of their eyes. I also really appreciated getting to see their stories before they met one another, and how their hardships molded them into the people they needed from each other. They each harbored secrets, and it was really interesting to see. I found Lotto as a person annoying, and I did not vibe with the first half of the book, but as soon as we started to get Mathilde's perspective, I was hooked. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Grief, Classism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child death and Death