Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

5 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I’m one of the few people who didn’t like A Gentleman in Moscow so I wasn’t expecting to like this one either. Boy, was I surprised. This book is wonderful: charming, poignant, adventurous, and, above all, entertaining. 

The story is told from multiple points of view, each in a distinctive voice. The writing is beautiful, lush in its descriptions, knowing in the ways of damaged people. It’s a story of four boys on a journey but the Lincoln Highway itself is a sidebar to the varied experiences, both good and bad, that befall the characters. 

I loved seeing the world through Billy’s eyes. At eight, he’s innocent and guileless, expecting the world to be the same. The older boys, each around 18, have good reason to be jaded and angry but overall they’re hopeful. Emmett is especially resourceful in dealing with the many obstacles in his path. His love for Billy guides his every move. 

I can’t recommend this highly enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Confinement, Alcohol, Abandonment, Violence, Death of parent, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic friendship

deebee223's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Police brutality, Mental illness, Suicide, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, War, Blood, Cancer, Classism, and Terminal illness

silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

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

2.5

This was moderately enjoyable through the story, though I still would have considered giving up on it a few times if I hadn't been reading it for book club. It was slow, and only about half the characters were likeable, though admittedly even the unlikable ones had a few great moments. 

The ending ruined whatever enjoyment I got out of the rest of the book, and made me go "what was the point of all that". I didn't feel most of the characters had any kind of resolution or interesting arc, and the end was depressing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Confinement and Racism

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content

midnightverde's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book hooked me from the start. I loved the structure. The story takes place over 10 days and there is excitement in each section, and it increases as you read. You read from various character perspectives and gain insights as you go. Reading this book gave me the feeling of drinking a warm beverage on a cool day, it was a very cozy read with lots of room for interpretation on what motivated certain characters or what they were thinking when they took certain actions. The ending was wild and I don’t even know exactly how I feel about it, but ultimately it’s somehow perfect in a way I wouldn’t have imagined. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Pregnancy, Confinement, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

2.0

For every book that most people think is great, or in Amazon's opinion "the best book of the year", there has to be someone that didn't like it.  I'm that person.  I can understand why people enjoyed it.  It's easy to read and parts of it are very entertaining.  However, the undercurrent of violence that runs through it didn't work for me.   For me, it felt more like a Quentin Tarantino ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood") or Coen Brothers ("Fargo") movie.  I can enjoy those sorts of movies since they are only a couple of hours, but this book took up too much of my time and left me unhappily unsettled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence