Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

7 reviews

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

cc_shelflove's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Bro, that was fucked up!!! Oh my gosh. What an ending. I can’t believe that was the ending! 🤯 

Eighteen-year-old Emmett is released from a working camp after completing his fifteen month sentence. When he returns home, his father’s farm is being foreclosed upon, and he and his younger brother, Billy, seemingly have nowhere to go. The two set off for California in hopes of creating their own fresh start. When Emmett’s “friends” Duchess and Woolly show up unexpectedly, he is forced to construct a new plan.  

From the beginning, I knew Duchess was bad news. He made me furious at every turn. On the contrary, I felt an immediate connection to Billy and wanted to protect him at all costs! I quickly became invested in the story and our main characters’ well-being. While there were a lot of shady characters in this story, there were a lot of lovable ones, too. Things may not always work out as you initially planned, but they will always work out. I really loved this! Shoutout to Book of the Month for my complimentary ‘Book of the Year’ copy. 

“It’s yellow! exclaimed Billy, as he returned from a nearby newsstand. Just like the yellow of corn.” 🌽🤣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Addiction, Suicide, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

xbernadette's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicide, and Abandonment

Minor: War, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, and Alcoholism

readbycarina's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking and Racism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, War, and Grief

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

I’m not sure how I feel about the ending of this book, but the whole book is so well written and the characters so well fleshed out that I can’t help but love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Violence, Death of parent, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury

mondovertigo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Death of parent, Death, Animal death, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Minor: War

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.5

Why I Chose to Read It: Although I disliked Rules of Civility, I thoroughly enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow, so I picked The Lincoln Highway for my October Book of the Month. 

 

Plot:

Since The Lincoln Highway constantly jumps between at least 6 points of view and various locations across the country, the plot is correspondingly erratic. Erratic seems an insufficient descriptor—more like dizzying. I had to put the book down several times just to remark how bonkers the plot was. Like a leisurely road trip, The Lincoln Highway takes whatever turns it pleases while at the same time moving towards its destination. However, the characters and writing are so fascinating that I could not be annoyed it. I decided to enjoy the ride, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that all of the seemingly pointless plot excursions reached toward a cohesive and impactful ending. It is brilliant.

 

Characters:

This story would not be half as compelling without its quirky, complicated, fascinating, and lovable characters. Just like the plot, the characters require a certain amount of suspended disbelief. Despite the large cast of characters, Towles is good at fleshing them all out and gives them all surprisingly in-depth backstories. Few if any are all good or all bad, but each exists on a spectrum between the two extremes. 

 

Setting:

Despite the book’s title, very little of the story takes place on the Lincoln highway. Most of the story takes place in a small town in Nebraska and New York City. Towles never spends too much time describing his settings, but he gives enough to service the story. 

 

Themes: 

The Lincoln Highway covers a wide range of themes, but mainly focuses on the themes of justice/retribution and morality. Most of the characters have backstories in which they wrong others and are wronged by others, and the story explores these backstories shape their motivations and actions. Its three main characters, Emmet, Woolly, and Duchess were each sent to a juvenile prison labor camp for crimes they did not intend to commit or crimes they did not commit. It is fascinating to see how each character deals with the fairness (or unfairness) of their situation and the ending provides a satisfying conclusion to the thematic questions the book raises.

 

Writing Style:

Towles’ writing is a breeze to read. He’s good at capturing individual character voice. Despite the unwieldy plot, it was never too difficult to figure out what was happening and why. 

 

Conclusion:

This book was not what I expected it to be, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. It requires patience and suspension of disbelief, but the journey and the destination are worth it. It is certainly better than Rules of Civility, and in my opinion, a step above A Gentleman in Moscow. Definitely worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism