Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

21 reviews

kingaisnotcool's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

i usually love magical realism but the magical realism in this was completely unnecessary and ruined what i hoped would be good representation of mental illness (specifically schizophrenia).

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Content Warnings

Minor: Biphobia, Child death, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and War

sjh541's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.75

I love everything David Mitchell does. This one goes deep into the Mitchell-verse, with callbacks to Cloud Atlas, The Bone Clocks, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, and Ghostwritten (and probably his other books I haven't read yet). At times, those references and the famous musicians who pop up feel just a tiny bit too much, but there's lots of fun and lovable characters throughout so I didn't really mind. Didn't fully stick the landing at the end IMO. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child death

chloeanderson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Just because of jaspers last chapter otherwise it would have been 5 stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Child death, Sexism, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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: Drug use, Sexism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Police brutality, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and War

atamano's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content and War

joyjoyjoy's review against another edition

5.0

This is a completely self-indulgent 5 star. No, I have no clue what was happening half the time. Yes, the phonetic accents were slightly distracting. Yes, a few too many celebrities were name-dropped. And yes, I cried buckets.

This is just totally my kind of book. Queer characters get to exist unapologetically, and the premise of the book is so exactly my thing that it's ridiculous. I still haven't found a way to process the ending, or what the hell was going on with Jasper, but I will. 

Anyway, Elf is my new hero and I want to play psychedelic folk-jazz-rock now. 

I would also like to note that this book takes place in the 60s, and as such the language used and viewpoints shown are definitely outdated sometimes. Take heed of the trigger warnings. Specific instances include a couple of mentions of the words "poof"/"queer"/"f*g" etc, some cultural appropriation of Native American imagery, and the use of the historically misogynistic and racist epithet directed against Indigenous women that I don't want to write out (it starts with 's'). The overall tone of the book is quite accepting and positive, but these things do come up. As for the representation of mental illness, I can't give a verdict on that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Police brutality, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, and War

marytylerr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child death and Drug use

Minor: Racism

claire_builds_a_stair's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

blenchbooks's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Sadly I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped or as much as Mitchell's other books I've read. As someone who isn't super familiar with the music scene of the late 60s, a lot of the nods to people and places didn't add anything for me. I went through most of the novel waiting for a speculative or interesting element to come in and when it did it felt like almost a completely different book had been shoved in. This section also heavily references The Bone Clocks and I think would possibly be quite confusing for those who hadn't read it. 
I really wanted to love this book and there were some parts that I really enjoyed but sadly it just wasn't a win for me. 
I would recommend this book for fans of the 60s or those who lived through them and want some nostalgia but I would also recommend reading his last three books first as I think understanding the references does add something to this one. 
I will still 100% pick up Mitchell's next book and I hope I enjoy it more than this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Drug use

Moderate: Child death and Suicide attempt

versacrum's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Rape, and Police brutality