Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

12 reviews

angorarabbit's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

TLDR: Beautifully written love story to story. 

 

Lushly written with an attention to detail in both the landscape and characters. The five main characters are diverse and fully realised.The future and historical sections are better written than many books of their genres. The chapters are generally short and have time, place and person headings so there is no guessing where you are or with who. The plot arcs of each character were easy to follow and satisfying in the end. I enjoyed the breakup of the novel with bits of Cloud Cuckoo Land though I am not an ancient literature scholar so don’t have any expertise in how well Mr Doerr executed a translation of a fictional codex. 

 

There is some arithmetic a reader could chose to do regarding time and distance which may give you a clue to something spoilerish ahead. Or it could be the author does not like to do arithmetic. I’m choosing to believe the former; which, when it clicked made me appreciate the intricacy of the book even more. Im a little shocked by how long it took me to tumble it. 

 

I empathised with Seymour the most and found his grief at what was happening to his forest to be the most heartbreaking. Those sections were the hardest to read as I looked at the pines older than me  outside my own window. I do not know what Constantinople or the other places were or will be like but I know that Mr Doerr nailed the pine forests east of the Cascades. 

 

In the end the book is not about heartbreak but the endurance of a story and the ability of stories to heal and sooth in the worst of times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Violence, War, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

congenital malformation, child neglect, child labour

mariawjw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage

spookyaz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia

puntifexmaximus's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

 Really, truly, spectacular. This is such a beautiful interwoven story spun across multiple lifetimes. It was delightful to see how each life connected with the other. Each character feels tangible and real, they all have so much depth and personality. Each plot-line is gripping and it is impossible to not feel for the characters. Seymour especially, I think, is beautifully written. His mental illness is incredibly accurately done, and he is never once demonized for it. Each character, despite their actions, kind or otherwise, is written and treated with respect and empathy. It's such a beautiful tale of humanity and kindness and struggle, and all of it is portrayed with such well researched nuance and intelligence. Definitely one of the best books if you want to feel something that is neither fully happy nor sad, but a cathartic combination of both. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Pedophilia, Slavery, Excrement, Islamophobia, Dementia, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

shlymiller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

If you like weaving storylines and libraries, this book is for you.

It took me awhile to get invested in each storyline, but once pieces started connecting I couldn’t put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, and Terminal illness

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

mmefish's review against another edition

Can't stand this writing for much longer (for example, sentences like "and ___ was ___, and he did ___, and this was ___, and something ___, and all was ___." happened every chapter, often multiple times in one). Also, the book apparently has some questionable representation of autism and I'm not here for it.

On the side note, this book wastes SO much paper with its empty pages or pages with only a few lines on them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Body shaming

carylalombro's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, and War

Moderate: Chronic illness

Minor: Gun violence and Homophobia

apollo_grace's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and War

Minor: Homophobia and Abandonment

kerropiz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad slow-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: Ableism, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death and Death

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, and Abandonment