Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

113 reviews

paint_gremlin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

rocks4cats_lower's review

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

It was a bit long for me (beginner reader) but it was so worth it. Anyone saying it was boring, yea sometimes the descriptions were long, but it was all necessary for the book. It’s not an quick action fantasy or whatever, it shows mc’s emotions and thoughts, good and bad, in the best way possible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Addiction

Moderate: Alcoholism

leilabp4's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Death, Addiction, and Alcohol

kingcrookback's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

Theo's story is permeated with a sense of displacement, of being out of place--grief, the passage of time, antiques, old art, physical distance, memory, estrangement, the gap between imagination/ideal and reality. For the most part, I enjoyed Tartt's writing style, especially how she captures emotions and headspaces that are typically very fleeting, ephemeral. This book is also very Dickensian, especially in its exploration of class, crime, and abuse.

However, as nice as the language was at times, it's slow-paced enough that I had to actively work (as in make sure I read a certain number of pages per day) so that my progress didn't peter out and eventually result in a DNF. The last arc of Theo's story is also rather incongruous with the rest of it, which threw me a bit. Tartt also seems to have a problem with leaving her female characters underdeveloped, which I suppose could be chalked up to the way Theo engages with women as a result of his grief, but it's still a bit annoying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

Minor: Racism and Cursing

ashleymg99's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Overall, I loved the book. The Goldfinch is a love letter to art, and the profound effect it has on us. My only complaint is that some parts are very slow. However, these slow sections often crescendo into one short line that changes the trajectory of the whole story.

Spoiler

these points mimic the explosion that began our journey, often “dropping a bomb” on the reader - and often marks the death of a significant figure in Theo’s life. His Mother. Welty. His Father. Andy and Mr. Barbour. All these deaths are sudden, accidental, and tragic.

. If you like antiques, art crimes, nihilism, and found family, you’ll love The Goldfinch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Grief, Mental illness, and Addiction

Moderate: Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

First half was on the right track to being better than the Secret History, but I was willing the book to be over by chapter nine. The author has a beautiful writing style but, in terms of the length of her novels, has no idea that less is nearly always more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence and Murder

patchworkjester's review against another edition

dark 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/injury detail, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

c_naleppa's review

challenging mysterious sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Death

aly_vee_'s review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

veerau's review

dark reflective sad slow-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

3.0

Ok listen, the story is imo quite good on it's own, but I could not handle how slow it all was... 
To be clear, I read the synopsis of the book, and the main event it all circles around of happens 200+ pages in, if not 400 I do not remember and I'm certainly not opening this tome again. 
The most interesting parts are Theo's childhood, up until he's 14-15, and the last 150 pages probably. Aka when Boris shows up and does chaos. 
I'm not one scared of big books, but this one really could have benefited from a cut here and there, it was hard at times to find the motivation needed to continue unfortunately. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, Death, and Grief