Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

8 reviews

linneak's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Addiction, Blood, Alcoholism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Deportation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Confinement

moonlightreads007's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.0

This one was a really fun read! I love how the main character decides to just climb out of the window and disappear into a new life he chooses for himself. It was a very action-packed, adventurous type of book. I really liked how the author tied historical events into the book and added their own personal twist to them by involving the characters in the development of world history. The characters do many ethically questionable things at times, but they're so likeable that you can't help but to cheer for them.

The part where they lie about the chronological order of events and about what actually happened was especially entertaining. I love how they all get mostly happy endings; it goes to show that people can create new lives and realities for themselves at any age, and that it's never too late to have fun adventures and to do all the things you want to do.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes themes of adventure, historical fiction, situational irony and friendships in books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, and Death

Moderate: Confinement, War, and Murder

Minor: Racism, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

lackyducks's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

A thoroughly enjoyable and highly unpredictable book. 

The book tells the story of Allan, going between the present from his one hundredth birthday, to the past. It follows him through the years, where he's inserted into a variety of fraught political situations with an entirely unbothered attitude. Meanwhile, in the present day, the reader follows him through another adventure filled with twists and turns of it's own. You reach a point where you say 'sure, this might as well happen' in the best way.

I found the cast of characters thoroughly enjoyable and each had distinct personalities. I enjoyed the way they intertwined and interacted with the absurdity of the story. Despite several atrocities, you still find yourself rooting for them, with the occasional aside to discover the backstory of another person that doesn't feel out if place.

The book takes a little while to find its stride, but once the main plot hook comes in it was an instant sell for me. I truly didn't know what to expect next and it was always exciting to find out. There are difficult topics dealt with throughout the story, but they're all handled with Allan's sense of bemused attachment. Although the story is light-hearted, be prepared for those darker topics to come up. 

I think the enjoyment of the book also greatly depends on what's expected from it. I loved the absurdity and silliness the book provided, and didn't care about it's disregard for realism. However I can understand this might be a sticking point for others. Similarly, although I'm not particularly well-versed on politics or history, I didn't have trouble following the narrative, though I'm sure I must've missed the occasional joke.

Overall, this book is just an incredibly fun time. Coming to the end where the two narratives join back up in time and seeing it all come together felt like a fitting ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Car accident, Violence, War, Confinement, and Gun violence

Minor: Racism and Animal death

ran_sophia's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

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

5.0

The book is perfectly written from beginning to end. Listening to the audiobook was a great choice, as it is excellently narrated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, War, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Death of parent

alexa's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, and Religious bigotry

bethanstanleyy's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and War

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Car accident

orlagal's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Xenophobia, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Terminal illness, Slavery, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Islamophobia, Infidelity, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Colonisation, Car accident, Cancer, Body horror, Blood, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol

empathephant's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was a crazy good time. I want to reread it immediately, which is a sign of a good book for me. Instead I'll probably read the sequel and also brush up on my 20th century history class, which has somehow become 6,984 times as compelling...

I laughed aloud often, which is rare for me while reading, but also thought deeply about the way history had been presented to me in school, politics, conflict, and what matters most in life.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Torture

The book is lighthearted in tone but does deal with a lot of war and political conflict. For me the tone meant that most of the book wasn't terribly distressing. However, I did feel very uncomfortable on 129 which discussed plans of guards to sexually assault a prisoner. I feel that the bottom half of that page could be skipped without losing much plot.