Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Postcard by Anne Berest

10 reviews

jsprenk's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

A beautifully written story of a woman and her mother’s quest to learn about their family, four of whom died in the holocaust … with a modern-day mystery story underneath it all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Violence, Torture, and Racism

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Suicide

jams_is_rad's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

such a beautiful book that had me wondering what was next until the very last moment 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Antisemitism, Torture, Grief, War, and Death

kristinj1's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Wow this was a good book! It was interesting to read this with the real world backdrop of the war happening in Gaza and Israel. I have an even deeper understanding of what Jewish people have experienced, what it was like in places like Paris before deportation began, how they believed that if they followed the rules they'd be okay. I see now why, at the end of the book, she says why they don't obey orders. Oh, and the reintroduction of "returnees" to France! I hadn't read about any of that before. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deportation, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Suicide, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Torture, and War

machenn's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Violence, War, Child death, Death, Genocide, Grief, Torture, Drug use, and Death of parent

mishasbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Deportation, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Abandonment, Addiction, Antisemitism, Dementia, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Rape, Suicide, Genocide, Self harm, Torture, and Trafficking

pambo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture and War

dnpatterson2's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Death, Racism, Antisemitism, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, War, Violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, Bullying, Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infertility, Classism, Dementia, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

szmay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Police brutality, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Trafficking, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Rape, Religious bigotry, Excrement, Physical abuse, Medical content, Police brutality, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, and Murder

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation, Hate crime, Drug abuse, Grief, Antisemitism, Classism, Murder, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Physical abuse, Confinement, Bullying, Genocide, Abandonment, Addiction, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and War

romie_chat's review against another edition

emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

this is objectively one of the books I had the hardest time reading. I never find it easy to read about the Holocaust and its aftermath, and knowing that this is a sort of novelised memoir did not help. knowing the people in this book are real makes everything ten times more painful. I saw a lot of my own family history in these pages, in the way my own grandparents simply did not talk about what happened because it was too much, in the way this war impacted their relationship with Judaism.

I think it's a book that will start conversations among Jewish families like mine, families who lost too much and decided that speaking about these events was too much. not speaking about it created a void in me and that made me relate all the more to the author's need to know more and to research what happened to her family.

this is a beautiful memoir that discusses what happened to Jewish people during the Holocaust, specifically French Jewish people, the aftermath of the war in France, and what it means to be Jewish but not religious today (4.57)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Genocide, War, Death, and Torture