Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

23 reviews

passionatereader78's review

emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

This is a great book for dealing with grief.  It's not extremely emotional and it's told from a child's point of view. This little girl learns about who her grandmother was before she was born and about her regrets. I loved all the stories. Well written!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, and Violence

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

1.0

The only reason I finished this book was because I was foolishly convinced it would get better, and only because it was written by Frederik Backman. I don’t love the protagonist, which is terrible cuz she’s a child and I believe all children should be loved. I was constantly distracted by Britt-Marie because I kept wondering if she is the same character from Britt-Marie was Here (like did she get a new job in between books???). And there were other issues. I’ll stick to his books with characters who are at least in high school.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Grief

lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Death's greatest power is not that it can make people die, but that it can make people want to stop living.

Backman, as always, knows how to tap into human emotions and explore humanity. What I appreciate most about his writing is his ability to take a simple truth and delve into it to the extent that it prompts a different perspective, making us recognize the significance of that truth. Kudos to Backman (and the translator!) for always knowing how to articulate the essence of humanity.

I enjoyed reading "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry" (in my opinion, Backman can do no wrong). However, I did notice one flaw that bothered me a little: Elsa, who is almost 8 years old, sometimes seemed unusually mature for her age. The only thing that reminded me that she is still a child was her fascination with the Land-of-Almost-Awake. If it weren't for her interest in this imaginary world, she would come across as someone in her teens who simply enjoys escaping reality by creating a different world in her mind.

However, this book reminded me that being different is not wrong. You should not allow society to bring you down simply because you are different.

As with any of Backman's books, he once again reminded me of the importance of kindness. It serves as a reminder that we never truly know the struggles and experiences that others are going through. We should always keep in mind that even the people we may dislike have their own challenges and reasons for behaving the way they do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Cancer, Car accident, and Addiction

sea_tea_books's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense

4.0

So much trauma, blanketed by comedy and fantasy, told from the perspective of a young girl. 
It was interesting how each character evolved, their backstories slowly unraveled in bits and pieces, through stories and fairy tales.

[Audiobook: I thoroughly enjoyed Joan Walker's narration of the audiobook. I probably would have DNF if it weren't for her storytelling.]

My heart broke when the wurse died. 💔😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Pregnancy, Stalking, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: War and Murder

kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Alcoholism, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Bullying, War, and Abandonment

corriejn's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

A sweet and charming story of loss, friendship, imagination, trauma, and family. 

The last book I'd read by this author was "Beartown" and this one is wildly different, which speaks to his versatility.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Cancer, Pregnancy, Stalking, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity

you don't get 5 stars if the dog dies

hmetwade's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Mental illness, War, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

embla_v's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful

3.75

En ganska bra bok som jag läst pga skolan. 

Boken handlar om en 7-åring vars mormor dör vilket leder till att flickan skickas ut på en skattjakt. En jakt efter sanningen om alla hon känner och framförallt om sin mormor. 

Rekommenderar till all som gillar Backman böcker. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Violence, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Stalking, War, Abandonment, Cursing, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

cassie7e's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

I didn't love this book and I'm not totally sure what I didn't like about it. It seemed to try to make up for the dark parts with sweetness that came across as saccharine instead. I did appreciate how the fairytales and real world stories interwove.

Since I've soured on JKR the constant references to Harry Potter don't feel quite so whimsical and heartwarming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Infidelity, Death of parent, Mental illness, Animal death, Grief, Cursing, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Stalking, Excrement, and Drug abuse

bookedwithbrie's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, War, Death, Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Abandonment