Reviews tagging 'Death'

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

27 reviews

lexithelion's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

4.75

Wow, what a captivating novel. I went into it not really knowing what it was about or how intense it was going to be. I was a bit caught off guard in the first 3rd of the book because of how blatantly head-on it is on the topic of racism. As a white person myself, I feel the same way Jodi did writing this book as I was reading it; I want to understand and adjust my perspective to better face the injustice in this world and after reading this I feel as though I am less lost on how I can help. This story is not only based on a true one, but the fictional characters feel so real as if this did actually happen. Every character has a fully fleshed-out backstory and motive for their present actions. Every character feels as though they were written by a different author, creating incredible character diversity. They feel authentic and make the story feel well-timed and not rushed. I do wish that more was written about Edison, however, as we started to see his character change throughout the novel without really an answer as to why or what triggered this. I thought it would have been interesting to read how Ruth and Edison's dynamic changed as Edison faded out of being this 'perfect American high-school scholar' archetype.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Antisemitism, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Death, Islamophobia, Pregnancy, Gore, Medical content, Suicide, Racial slurs, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Cursing, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Infertility, Medical trauma, and Sexism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Excrement, and Blood

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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: Child death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Gore, Hate crime, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, Cursing, Gaslighting, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

evipefi's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Child death, Medical content, Antisemitism, Self harm, Death, Hate crime, Racism, and Suicide

katreena's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Self harm, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child death, Classism, Death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Hate crime, Murder, Misogyny, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Cursing, Slavery, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

a_beautiful_soup's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, Child death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Self harm, Death, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

kszar's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-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

Honestly one of the more moving books I have read. Absolutely incredible job writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Racism, Death, Grief, Antisemitism, Self harm, Racial slurs, and Police brutality

kades26's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

This book is a crescendo. Slow. Fast. Slow. Fast. It puts you on the edge. As a biracial woman it made me uncomfortable, but there is growth in discomfort. Character growth you're not expecting. Themes that leave you thinking. The ending was a bit flat in comparison to the rest of the book. I wanted it to be drawn out a bit more. I haven't reading another Jodi Picoult book but I liked her style. I listened to the audiobook on Libby and really enjoyed the narrators. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Death, Medical content, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Racism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Police brutality

Minor: Transphobia and Antisemitism

izzy_v's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I was hesitant about this book in which a white author focuses on racism, but I am very glad I read it. Much of the commentary feels a little “Racism 101” and much simpler or less groundbreaking than I’d like it to be. However, in remembering that this book came out in 2016, before the Black Lives Matter movement and a lot of the most recent racial awakening, coupled with the fact that I think the target demographic is white people who have implicit biases despite firmly believing they’re not racist, I think the author did a good job for what she was trying to accomplish. I enjoyed the story and getting invested in the characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Child death, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Self harm, Suicide, Antisemitism, Cursing, Homophobia, Grief, Death, and Murder

crobinson81217's review

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? It's complicated

4.0

This book was extremely well written and hard to read at times due to the nature of the topics in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Child death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Death, Antisemitism, and Racism

curious_oyster's review against another edition

hopeful 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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, Racial slurs, Child death, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt