Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

16 reviews

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.25

This book was really good! I absolutely loved the concept of stories connecting different teenagers who all live in different small towns. I thought it was executed well, but maybe not to its full potential. I think some of the stories and characters could have felt more fleshed out, but I also understand that they are short stories, and not every character is going to feel as connected to the main thread as everybody else. However, characters like Ruby in the second story, who I liked a lot, I wish had more to them. My favorite stories in this book were Alaska Was Wasted On Us, Parking-Lot Flowers, and my favorite of all of them was Sea-Shaken Houses. While I didn't dislike any of the stories, the one I think I enjoyed the least was probably Basketball Town. I felt disconnected to those characters in a way I didn't with the other stories, but I appreciated it for what it was and the purpose it served to connecting threads. Sea-Shaken Houses was a story that did blow me away, and it was the story that earned this book an extra .25 when I rated it. I found myself relating in a few ways to both Jane and Martha in that story, and I really loved the direction it took and how it connected to everything else. My biggest issue with it was, as I said, I felt like some characters could have been fleshed out more than they were, and also that there were some parts where I found myself a bit bored. However, I would definitely recommend that anyone who thinks this concept sounds really interesting should absolutely give it a shot! I think there are people who will really love it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug use and Alcoholism

dizzydriya's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Car accident, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Kidnapping, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

river24's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

3.5/5

Check trigger warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Car accident, Sexism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

siobhanward's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

 I like Hitchcock's work and loved how she made the stories so interconnected. I wish the book had been longer because it feels like the stories were just little samples, not a full meal. I definitely can't wait to read more from Hitchcock. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Homophobia

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

  Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town is a set of interconnected short stories (or maybe a novel in vignettes?) set in small towns in the American west and Alaska. Characters from one story often appear as the main character of a subsequent story. Some of the themes were heavy - sexual abuse of children, grief, wildfires, the weight of parental expectations, coming out, mental health and more. And yet despite this the book really didn’t feel heavy, possibly because the format prevented us from going deep with any character or dwelling on their issues.  Having grown up in a small town, albeit not in America, I could definitely relate to the small town vibe. In many ways this is an understated book, one where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia

emilyrosejamieson's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book so much, it could have been so disjointed but it fit together so well and was a really satisfying read. I definitely want to read again in physical form so I can flip back and forth and put the pieces together a bit better and make notes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Child death, Grief, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Vomit

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Death, Car accident, Child death, and Grief

julianunesp's review against another edition

emotional reflective

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

5.0

best read of the year so far, absolutely taken away by this. want to write a full review soon.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Grief

nickoliver's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.25

This was a collection of short stories, but ones that were interconnected with each other in one way or another. For example, one story would be about a girl, and then the next about her sister. Or her best friend. And there were certain characters that were focal points in some stories and mentioned in passing in others. I listened to this on audiobook, and I think I might've seen the connections a bit more closely if I'd read it physically, just because I wasn't always 100% conscious of the characters' names. However, I really did like the way the stories were interwoven! It made it a lot more interesting, tbh.

I really enjoyed Hitchcock's writing and got really invested in the characters' lives. I did, in some stories, wish I got a bit of a satisfying ending, but I also knew that it wasn't unusual for short stories to not offer that, so it didn't make me mad or annoyed or anything. I definitely want to read more by this author! I would advise you to check out the trigger warnings before going into the book, though. There was a lot about sexual abuse of children in some stories, particularly sexual abuse by religious leaders. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Murder

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, and Homophobia