Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

10 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

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Abandonment, Grief, Classism, Suicide, Alcohol, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Self harm, Death of parent, and Death

elizaeaa22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Cursing, Bullying, Gaslighting, Violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Drug use, Death of parent, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

sharonus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

lauramcc7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Murder, and Death of parent

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad 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

2.75

well, this was a different experience from towles' previous effort. the lincoln highway is a book thats both big and (tries to be) bighearted, but the nearly-600 pgs puzzlingly fail to create any kind of emotional impact for me aside from the occasional urge to strangle some of the characters.

like, i get what it tries to do, but it doesnt rly end up working for me. the writing and narrative voices can be enjoyable - god knows how many times i chuckled or snorted from the periodically deadpanned narration and dialogue; the characters are fleshed out, making them understandable as ppl despite how ??? they can be, and billy's def my fav character for how endearing yet wise he is. at the same time, however, i find a few of them bland (esp emmett, befuddingly), and others simply rage-inducing (looking at u, the damn pastor and duchess). the book also often reads like a game of cat-and-mouse, just a long, winding trail chase that hops from one thing to another, one w/ an ending thats unfortunately a lil underwhelming at that.

my biggest issue w/ the novel is prolly its ability to evoke any emotions - the good ones anyway - from me, despite how long, adventurous, character filled it is, esp considering the amount of scenes that could be impactful, but ultimately fail to. overall, this unfortunately doesnt live up to my expectations despite its lofty potential.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Racism

Moderate: War, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Death, and Sexism

kmw2017's review against another edition

medium-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

5.0

Another masterpiece from Amor Towles.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

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

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Despite the title the boys do not spend much time at all in the Lincoln highway. That would probably have been a more enjoyable story, honestly.

debimorton's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Emmett, Billy, Duchess, Woolly. Salina, KS boys prison. Mostly, NY. Ending not great. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Suicide