Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Das Licht der letzten Tage by Emily St. John Mandel

71 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This is the third book by this author I have read, and I’ve loved all three of them. She tells stories that are truly unique. No template or formula but simply well woven stories of multiple (dis)connected lives. And just when I was thinking this would be a great script, I found out it was actually made into a TV series. I must add that to my watch list!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment

quinnyquinnquinn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Suicide

nicolescottwv's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Pandemic/Epidemic

oriana095's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

amberelizabeth7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

Mainly reviewing to preserve the quote I’d bookmarked but have to return the library book! 

This was a recommendation and while slightly slow to get into, turned out magnificently and I already kind of want to reread for stuff I likely missed.

I would say defo check trigger warnings, and don’t read if it’s too soon to read vividly your worst fears for how the recent pandemic could’ve gone….

“I’m talking about these people who’ve ended up in one life instead of another and they are just so disappointed. Do you know what I mean? They’ve done what’s expected of them they want to do something different but that’s impossible now, there’s a mortgage, kids, whatever, they’re trapped. Dan’s like that.” …. “….high functioning sleepwalkers, essentially” … “… I think people like him think work is supposed to be drudgery punctuated by very occasional moments of happiness, but when I say happiness, I mostly mean distraction. You know what I mean?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

tremayna's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Medical content, and Death of parent

Written before the 2020 pandemic, this book about a fictional global viral event was disorienting to read in the year 2023, so closely following the eerily parallel events that came to pass in real life. Much of the real life pandemic is still in progress; its effects continue to leave their mark; the process of compartmentalizing memories of things surreal and too big to process without a biweekly therapy plan is still happening. Picking up this book jolted me back into the thick of pandemic thinking, creating a literal sense of disorientation where I was looking around me wondering how people could be sitting so close, maskless, touching everything without thought, when I hadn't seen the world that way in at least a year and a half. For that reason alone, I have to commend the writing. And at the same time, the author's delicate touch and the many moments of human normalcy, in both pre-event and post-event scenes, prevented the complete despair that could have pervaded this story. I felt St John Mandel balanced total devastation with enough possibility to keep the reader believing in the likelihood of meaningful survival without overdoing it and allowing the story to devolve into purely a feel good fantasy.

My one remaining frustration by the end was how little of Jeevan's growth we got to see. It was thankfully alluded to in enough detail to let the reader form a picture. But as the first point of view character, he was the one that had my investment from the start, and I slightly resented Arthur's story for edging it out, especially since Jeevan's story could also have neatly covered Tyler and Elizabeth's character development.

the_tridentarii's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Pregnancy

bdingz's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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

3.75

From what I’d previously heard about this book, I was expecting more horror or thriller elements. Once I realized that wasn’t accurate, I had to set those expectations aside and enjoy the story for what it was. I liked how the stories all intertwined, although I liked reading about some characters more than others. I would’ve liked a bit more focus on Kristen and the Symphony. 

Annoying trope of

disabled people killing themselves because they’re a burden—not once, but twice.

Still, I loved the writing style. I hope to read more from Emily St. John Mandel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, and Suicide

brindolyn's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, and Murder