Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

28 reviews

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Marisol and her sister Gabi have come to the US as refugees to escape gang violence back home. When restrictive boarder practices threaten to send them home, Marisol agrees to become part of a medical experiment in order to have their asylum request heard. The experiment seeks to try a new medical technology designed to transfer grief and trauma from someone experiencing them to someone else as a sort of temporary holding tank of sorts. Marisol is paired with a girl her age who recently lost a sibling in a traumatic way. 

I enjoyed this read quite a bit. The story flowed smoothly, and the characters were engaging. I thought the concept of transferring grief and trauma from one person to another was an interesting, though troubling, concept and it was well executed here. It was stressful seeing Marisol fall prey to unethical practices targeting vulnerable populations! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Death of sibling, PTSD, flashback, battlefield trauma, explosion trauma, medical science unethically taking advantage of vulnerable populations, detention center, US immigration practices

gothicmoon's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

The Grief Keeper handles serious, difficult topics in a digestible manner for people the characters' age to understand. The writing is fluid and the plot simple with shocking touches, though the story itself doesn't quite linger after the book is over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Hate crime

mxfahrenheit's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

gay's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Homophobia and Xenophobia

annereads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Mental illness, and Death

azaliz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

An amazing story on grief and trauma and depression and illegal immigration, with lovely themes of friendship and love and sacrifices.

There are queer main characters and most of the characters are people of color.

The cover of the book is gorgeous and it represents the book perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Xenophobia

loraora's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, and Homophobia

moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Gun violence, and Medical trauma