Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

83 reviews

tiredfangirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I was so torn about how to star rate this book. The themes were incredibly well developed looking back from the end, but I think as I was reading it felt like a lot of stuff was going nowhere. 

In terms of the characterization, I didn’t like any of the characters for about the first half of the book. I get that it was building towards the larger themes, but it meant that I wasn’t really enjoying reading it. I also really felt like for a book with such complex characters otherwise, Julia and Rose got very one-note characterizations.

I’m more forgiving of Charlie’s 2-note characterization because I think it makes a point about how we idealize people after death, but I wish she had DONE something with that.

Despite all that, I couldn’t seem to put it down. So… 4/5 I guess? But definitely 5/5 at times and 2/5 at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcoholism and Addiction

katewhite77's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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

5.0

A Family Saga Inspired, In Part by Little Women.

I loved this book and felt so seen within it's pages. It  tells the story of the Padavano sisters, an Italian American family from the late 70s to late 00s, from late teenagehood to early middle age.

It is a beautifully rendered portrait of what can happen when a families supply of glue suddenly stops and things begin to fall apart.  However it also shows how if the family unit is strong enough it can stitch itself back together again into a different shape. 

One of the big themes of this book is truth, both in terms of being honest and lieing.

If this doesn't make it into my top books of 24 I will be surprised.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Minor: Drug abuse, Infertility, and Sexual content

marissanbullis's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

charrrchar's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pregnancy and Grief

nanirump's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

The main characters are quite sad and lack good communication skills. The characters make some seriously misguided decision and most of the parenting is sub-par or harmful without being outright abusive. It was a beautiful story nonetheless and I'm glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Grief, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

jamespwaa's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Grief and Sexism

mrsmcfun's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Infidelity, and Cancer

rachelpeck7's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer

rachelagurley's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Although this was a well-written book and beautiful story, somehow it just didn’t do it for me. It took me forever to get through it even though I didn’t necessarily dislike the story… I will say, this book would make an excellent movie. I’m imagining Nicholas Britell composing the music with sweeping scenes of Northwestern’s campus and the Pilsen neighborhood. Someone fund this!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, and Abandonment