Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

27 reviews

merle98's review against another edition

dark inspiring sad tense 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

4.5

Shamefully I must admit that I did not know the Netflix show I watched and loved was based on a book, but when I found out I knew I had to read it. Even after watching the show which surprisingly closely follows the plot of the book, the book was captivating from start to finish and, as my lovely book vendor told me, goes much deeper into the psyche of Beth which massively improves the story. I do feel that the start of the book is a little stronger than the end and there was a lot of fascinating but incomprehensible chess speak (to an outsider like me) but these are just minor grievances: Would highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Terminal illness

boobies's review against another edition

dark inspiring tense fast-paced

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

3.0

ughh I love it but I hate it.
its a fast paced, easy read book that anyone could get into, it was a bit dark but I think that was Teviss' goal, the themes of mental illness, addiction, adoption and feminism are well done in my eyes. I dont know if anyone else thought that Beth was autistic but that was a strong vibe I was getting. However :( , this book is soo obviously written by a man who has no clue about young women, tbh it was a bit annoying. plus all the characters had deep flaws which make most of them unlikeable and the ending was predictable. ♡

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Grief, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Racial slurs

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, and Death of parent

pastry's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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

3.25

So, I loved the show, and the adaption is very close to the book, so overall, I did enjoy, however, there's some very unnecessary racism in this books, which they didn't put into the show (thank god), so that definitely bumps my rating. Sure, this book is from the 80s, but I just don't think that's a good enough excuse anymore. Plenty of people from old times didn't put racism into their books, so why should I excuse the ones that do because that's what the times were like. So nah. The story overall is fascinating and I really need to learn chess so I can fully appreciate it, but just go watch the show, it's basically the same thing bit with Anja Taylor-Joy and without the unnecessary bits of racism.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Vomit

miascupoftea's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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

2.75

this is probably the only book ever that the tv adaptation was better. and it was a LOT better. honestly i wouldn’t recommend reading the book unless you’re really, really into chess lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, and Bullying

farricoco's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death and Racial slurs

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Vomit

in the early pages (page 15 in some editions) there is a graphic description of CSA - this scene is not relevant to the plot/narrative of the book. should anyone need to skip it, it starts on the sentence "sometime in the middle of the night she was awakened." and ends just before the sentence "The next day in the cafeteria, Beth felt wretched from not sleeping."

flordemaga's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I’ve never read a book that was written so straightforwardly, I think. I like it. 

I diagnose Beth Harmon as autistic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent

Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, and Death

merricatblackwood's review

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse, Bullying, Misogyny, and Sexism