Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

171 reviews

cinnaminskies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Trafficking

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

kbweis's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

donna tartt has a terrible case of not being able to shut up itis 

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Content Warnings

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

annamiaswart's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Death of parent

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

rachel7588's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Bullying, Gun violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

2.0

I read The Goldfinch over five years ago and didn't particularly love or hate it. I thought it was a compelling Bildungsroman of sorts that was well-written, but I wasn't particularly attached to the characters or the story. I decided to reread this novel to see if my opinion changed (and I was in the mood to pick up a chunky book back when I started this).

My opinion certainly changed, but it was for the worse. This book did not age well by any means with all its racism, ableism, and classism. Tartt certainly writes with eloquence, but her writing is steeped with issues that left me cringing and frustrated. Something that caught my attention was the near absence of nonwhite characters in New York City, of all places, unless they were "the help." I'm not sure how I didn't catch this years ago, considering how glaring these details were.

I also found it even harder to sympathize with the protagonist, Theo, during this reread. The messiness of grief was well presented—even if it was a bit extreme with the addiction and alcoholism—but I was really unhappy with how Tartt went about Theo's relationships in such a dismissive way. He was so wrapped up in his own world that it negatively affected how he treated the people around him. Pippa is objectified in a Manic Pixie Dream Girl kind of way, while Kitsy was treated terribly. The queer experience that Theo had with Boris also went completely unaddressed, which makes me wonder why Tartt bothered adding this detail other than to shock the reader.

A disappointing reread, to say the least.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Racism, Ableism, and Bullying

Minor: Child abuse

kateriv's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

nothing is dragged on too long, nothing cut too short. truly a phenomenal piece in its balance of language, content, and themes. admittedly, the first 150 pages fight against you as i found the book hard to get into. but after that? i could barely put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

bubblebees's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia

arramachandran's review

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

3.5, the last 20 pages of this book basically saved it for me. However, I think there is something to be said, or rather many things to be said about the portrayal of POC in this book. Every single non-white character is in a service position (doormen, cooks, cleaners, drivers, and social workers), and Tartt builds the characters off of stereotypical fantasies, specifically the deeply offensive “Sikh taxi driver” caricature that made me angry when I read it. Even Boris, Gyuri, and all the other Eastern European characters fulfill every vodka-soaked stereotype of that region. 

Side note: why did she make Boris say the n-word multiple times? They were throwaway phrases in parentheses that added nothing to the story, and it made my jaw drop when I read it. It really seems like she wrote it in because she wanted to, and I’d like to meet the editor that let that pass through.

Anyways, although Tartt’s prose is beautiful and quite profound as always, remembering the shameful writing of POC characters brought down my experience of reading the book.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, and Racial slurs