Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

88 reviews

lgwhite's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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: Alcohol, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Violence

moz_art's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Gorgeous prose, with some banger twists, but overall slow and bulky for my liking. I enjoyed the beginning, the middle was a whole lot of nothing, the ending was all over the place and confusing. Too many plotlines but doesn’t fully focus on any of them for long enough for me to care. Finishing the book felt like a relief. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Cursing, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism and Addiction

zmeeks04's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Blood and Violence

Minor: Animal death

dominiq_ec's review

I started reading an e-book version, and I don’t think it’s processing well. Will definitely restart with a PDF or physical copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Abandonment, and Alcoholism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense 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

4.5

Definitely a fatiguing book but the kind of book you’d want to teach or take a class on. So much going on in here! People I rooted for despite myself, the goldfinch as an emblem, the psychological triggers for the choices made compulsively, the life of the painting and the parallels to the soul of the protagonist, ask the people we meet by chance and what that really means, etc. Long book worth every minute and every page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

redroseses's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Blood, Abandonment, Violence, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Racial slurs and Animal cruelty

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

I think this one just wasn’t for me. Tartt is undeniably an incredibly gifted writer. Her characters leap off the page. The Goldfinch reads like a memoir and I often found myself wondering how it’s possible that someone could pull such real characters out of their head. The audiobook narrator is also masterful in his performance of each one. But part of why I continued to ask myself this was because their lives, and consequently this book, are just so oppressively bleak. Like, I’m a proud Sad Girl™, but this felt like too much sometimes. 

There were also numerous times where I felt like we were gearing up for an ending only to check the audiobook and realize that somehow I still had 13 hours left. As I got to the end, I started to have my usual audiobook thoughts of “maybe I’d like this more if I read with my eyes,” especially with the discussions about the importance of art to the human experience. But I’m not sure I would’ve had the endurance for this book in print. And when it does finally end, it feels very

Boris

ex machina and entirely too quick and easy. I don’t know, man. Maybe all the new adult fantasy I’ve been reading lately is finally rotting my brain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Murder, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Vomit, and Sexual violence

Terrorism, bombing, organized crime

lisaalessandra's review

Very emotionally upsetting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Blood, and Body horror

jelliestars's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cursing, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Infidelity, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Racism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death, Classism, Deportation, Torture, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual content, and Transphobia

kou_'s review

challenging dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Death of parent

Moderate: Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit