Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

45 reviews

nkmustdie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Animal death, Cancer, Death of parent, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Torture, Vomit, War, Body shaming, Bullying, Dementia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, War, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Chronic illness, Cancer, Body shaming, Rape, Violence, Death, Animal death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Medical content, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Cancer, Classism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Child death, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Excrement, and Terminal illness

juliatsang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: War, Grief, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment and Adult/minor relationship

aposthuma's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

This book left me with a LOT of thoughts. I think I'm rating it 3.5 stars. I didn't care much about Ruth's POV and thought it was pretty slow, but Nao's parts were incredibly thought-provoking, bringing up themes like time, mortality, and permanence. Fair warning, this book is DARK. Far darker than i went in expecting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

veronica0mcdougall's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious 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: Body shaming, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Death, Fatphobia, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

rainbowesque's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It didn't reach 5 star for me only because the ending eluded me. I couldn't fully understand exactly where the author wanted to go. I was kind of feeling more- more of what? I don't know. Otherwise, the book made me feel a lot of feelings. Althoug  it took me one month to read, I never felt bored or on the days when I didn't touch the book, I hadn't felt like I forgot the story. It was rare for me. There is indeed some kind of 'urgency' (in Ruth's words) in the book that makes a reader keep wanting to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Rape, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Death

recorderkfk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

4.0

Stretch book/ growth edge book for me - but a different mode of storytelling - 2 narratives 1) first person Japanese teenager who grew up in California. 2) third person limited omnipresent narrator of Ruth an author who lives with her husband on an island off of Washington. 

The book grows on you the more you read of it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Violence, War, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Self harm, Stalking, Death of parent, Grief, and Miscarriage

valjeanval's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

One of the best books I've read in a long time. Theres's not one moment (or fingersnap of 65 moments) that hasn't been carefully thought through to create this beautiful exploration of time, entanglement, and a life (or a death) with meaning. The research that went into this book must have been incredible. Everything from the daily life of a Japanese high school student in Tokyo to neighborly mechanisms that keep a British Columbian island functionings to the realities of life as a WWII kamikaze pilot and the magical realism that is quantum mechanics. I care deeply for the characters. I feel like I've lived in the setting, and I savored the prose. I don't know what else you could ask for in a novel. It's my first Ruth Ozeki book, but definitely not my last.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, War, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent, Chronic illness, Grief, Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Death

stormbringer52's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

• 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

This book is a really tough read and took me a long time to finish. However, it was worth it. It made me incredibly uncomfortable in some parts, but that was the point. Ruth Ozeki did a wonderful job of representing unsettling topics in a way that felt real and disturbing. I found myself nervous to turn the page at times, worried what would happen next.

Brief spoiler for the end, but

it didn't make a lot of sense to me. I liked it, but it did feel a little out of nowhere. Granted, there were slight magical elements throughout, like how things that Ruth saw online suddenly disappeared, or Naoko conversing with her deceased great uncle. I suppose the end of the book meant to sort of explain why things were happening, but it kind of lost me honestly.

However, I still thing the book was beautifully written, so this does not impact my opinion much :]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, War, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Cancer, Blood, and Grief

horationelson's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and War

Minor: Dementia, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Rape, and Death of parent

roseblossom999's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Death, Body shaming, Body horror, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Rape, Mental illness, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Violence