Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Pallbearers Club: A Novel by Paul Tremblay

16 reviews

imrereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

I've been struggling with how to review this, because I think this is the kind of book that improves my knowing very little going in. Essentially it is the memoir of Art Barbara about his younger years. In high school during the late 80s he created the Pallbearer's Club where they volunteered at sparsely attended funerals. This is how he met Mercy. What makes this book interesting is that Mercy's comments in the margins, as she - now an adult - reads through the memoir. Except, her side of the story doesn't align with Art's at all. According to her, this is a novel. 

In and of it self, it's a really cool concept, and the turn it took really sucked me in. We have an unreliable narrator, and someone who comments heavily on that fact. The question is how reliable she is. It gets weird and I loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, and Grief

ravenpuff's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Addiction

goodgollymissmollee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.0

This book was not what I expected it to be and it was not for me. I loved the format, super cool and different, and the few pages of horror did scare me a bit. However, there weren’t very many of them and the book as a whole was extremely different from what I thought it was going to be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Cancer, Drug use, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic friendship

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cancer, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, and Drug use

trulydevious's review against another edition

sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Grief

dreamdoughnut's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

2.5

I have torn through many of Tremblay’s other novels so I was eagerly awaiting the Pallbearers Club. It didn’t grip me in the same way. Most of his other novels are fast-paced, starring out the gate with horror. This one dragged.

I think my main issue is that Art is incredibly unlikeable. I love a narrator that is flawed and unreliable but ultimately you want to relate to that character. He was vulnerable but blamed everyone but himself for his problems. He reminded me of an ex of mine, so maybe that’s a personal problem.

It wasn’t the worst book I’ve read. It just wasn’t a nail-biter like Tremblay’s other novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness