Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

9 reviews

tea_at_mole_end's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Car accident, Cancer, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

ptaradactyl's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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? It's complicated

2.5

If the flaws of the main characters are a focus of the book, so are their strengths. There a lot of feelings, and it’s sadder and darker than I remembered. But also joyous. 

I do like that it dealt with death and quality of life 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

hannahreadsthings's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

A personal favorite of mine. It's delectable, a favorite read on a winter day with a mug of hot cocoa. Harris's prose is beautiful and intoxicating, and I very much look forward to reading the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Classism, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Bullying, Death, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Cursing

thingslucyreads's review against another edition

lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

3.75

Very very different from the movie, though the core characters and events are the same. A rare occasion where both pieces of work stand together, complimenting each other without being diminished by their differences. Ultimately I think I prefer the film, if only because I really enjoyed the Reynaud/Caroline romance, which is wholly absent from the novel, and I liked Caroline’s characterisation in the film better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Suicide

Use of the g-slur for travelling people, racist sentiments and stereotypes about them expressed during Reynaud’s POV chapters and encouraged among the other residents by him. I’ve tagged for suicide also but it’s less that and more voluntary, self-inflicted euthanasia. This character has an illness that she purposely ignores in favour of enjoying the last years of her life - I do not share this illness so can’t say if it’s a negative or positive portrayal.

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Xenophobia

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Classism, and Chronic illness

Minor: Murder, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

belfrybatz's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? No

4.5

This book was beautiful, as I have come to expect from Joanne Harris. It had everything I loved about Five Quarters of The Orange; incredible, rich descriptions with gorgeous metaphors throughout that gradually pull--and then drag you in. Her focus, like in Five Quarters, on describing food in the most luscious manner possible is the thread that weaves everything together; illustrating how important sharing meals and culture with each other bring even the most fractured communities together. This is a short read, but worth it. The main character is not without flaws, and her development through the book of being able to finally separate herself from the paranoid influence her mother had on her helped to flesh her out as truly human and capable of growth past the end of the novel, not just a simple hero. The stories from each of the diverse cast of characters are emotional and reflective, but don't take you on too long of a journey away from the plot. Really enjoyed this! (Though Five Quarters is still my favorite :) ). I will warn about the continuous use of the word "gyp*y" to describe the Roma(I'm assuming) transients/travelers in the book, and the hate that is thrown towards them from some of the characters/antagonists.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

There's quite graphic descriptions of arson.

juliarchetype's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Alcoholism

Moderate: Medical content, Physical abuse, Death, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent and Grief

helenlikesbooks's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death, and Death of parent

chalkletters's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Chocolat seems the perfect book to review before the Easter weekend. Not only will Joanne Harris's delicious descriptions of the wares of La Celeste Praline whet one’s appetite for Sunday's chocolate eggs, but the main plot of the book concerns Vianne's Easter chocolate festival, and Father Reynaud's outrage that it might diminish the religious significance of the holiday. 

In the years since I last read Chocolat, I'd managed to forget almost everything except the two extremes of this story. From the beginning, Vianne's story of the bells being blessed and carrying chocolate home to their bell towers, and, from the end, Father Reynaud's temptation in the window of Vianne's shop. 

What I'd forgotten was Vianne's magical abilities, which came as a pleasant surprise this time around. I find stories of genuine witchcraft in the real world appropriately spell-binding, perhaps because they allow me to believe in magic, even if only in the context of the book's world. Vianne scrying in molten chocolate is just one example of Joanna Harris’s inventiveness in bringing together fortune-telling and cooking. 

The characters in Chocolat are lovingly captured. Though my favourites are all among Vianne's friends, rather than her enemies, I can't help but notice that Joanne Harris gives even the antagonists a complexity which, sometimes, makes them sympathetic. I love Joséphine, Roux, Vianne and Armande best, but Father Reynaud is fascinating, and I was never annoyed to be given a new chapter from his perspective. 

I hadn't realised that Chocolat had sequels, but I will eagerly add them to my to-read-list, along with everything else Joanne Harris has written. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, and Violence