Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

19 reviews

shibaunited's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Abortion, Antisemitism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Misogyny, Gun violence, Genocide, Deportation, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Suicide, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, War, Violence, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Blood, and Animal death

lilaceous's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

characters - ⭐️

plot - .5⭐️

engaging to read - ⭐️

would recommend - .5⭐️

would read again - 

the family dynamics in this novel are super fun to read. the plot did meander at times, but i wasn’t disappointed by the excess of flashbacks and seemingly unnecessary plot sections because it was all interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Violence, War, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

franklola's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Pedophilia, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, War, Alcohol, Animal death, and Violence

laurenleigh's review

dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I didn’t get what I expected here, but I still got a good story. I suppose I thought there’d be more magical realism or fantasy, but this novel is squarely historical fiction with one dash of magical realism. It was an interesting plot device which allows for the same scene in multiple ways, the same life with various consequences. If you liked that part of The Midnight Library, you’d like this too I bet. Fair warning that many parts of this plot are quite sad and depressing. I was enjoying the bucolic childhood tales in the English country manor, but things take a sharp left turn as Ursula grows up. I do enjoy historical fiction, and this felt very well researched. I think I’m just a little tired of WWII historical fiction. Though it does make me grateful to live in a time and a country that is not at war, not being bombed every night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abortion, Death, and Death of parent

sauvageloup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

A very compelling, if strange, book

pros:
- the prose and imagery is definitely it's strongest point. as one of the reviewers says, the scenes from the blitz in London are very vivid in my mind, as well as Ursula's awful time in london. and made me realise how truly awful it was for everyone - anyone who compares covid to the world wars has no idea. 
- the characters were also wonderfully done, they were all imperfect but well rounded and unique, especially Sylvie, Ursula herself and the rest of the family. 
- the idea itself is brilliant, and very well executed, with Ursula's slow realisation of what was happening and how the plots all came together. 
- though many references went over my head, I did enjoy the classical and cultural nods where I recognised them. 

cons:
-there were a lot of characters and storylines and it was confusing at times, especially because I had a break in the middle. but that added the palimpsest it was creating. 
- I found the ending strange and unpoignant, though Atkinson's note at the end helped with this. 

overall, very vivid and moving and I want to read more books by her in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Abortion, Grief, Vomit, Body horror, Death, Gore, War, Violence, Suicide, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Rape

ecstaticlistening's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Colonisation, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Vomit, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Murder, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and War

readingwithkt's review

reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, War, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Abortion

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Violence

worldexplorer's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape and Physical abuse

jowmy4's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Death of parent, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Excrement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Vomit

Parts of this book are set during the Spanish flu, the London Blitz, the Bombing of Berlin and the German Third Reich, and feature the expected horrors of each setting. However, I think part of the point of the book is to say that tragedies, horrors and other malign things happen all the time, even outside of these big events and even in seemingly-idyllic and safe locations.