Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

10 reviews

carojust's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I understand why this book is so loved and lauded. It's an enormous read that encourages you to dedicate a lot of patience and heart to its slow-moving narrative. My inner voice currently has a Texas accent -- that's how much it embeds itself in your imagination.

The book follows Texas rangers Call and Augustus as they decide to make money driving cattle to Montana, across risky terrain full of bandits, wild animals, rivers and dry plains. Larry McMurtry takes great care in fleshing out the contrasting personalities of the two main characters, as well as their moments of heroism and loss. The fight scenes, especially, were so well imagined, and make your heart race. 

What held me back was how one-dimensional the secondary characters were, particularly how Native Americans and women were portrayed. Violent or starved, a whore or a mother. And I don't think this was done in any kind of pursuasive way, it was just convenient to stereotype, and serve as ornamental means to manhood.

Nevertheless, you'll enjoy this if you're in the mood for adventurous plots, a large cast of characters, and rooting for heroes. Please consider the content warnings, too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

caribbeangirlreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad slow-paced

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

4.75

4.99 stars, because I HATED that last line. (And NO, you are not allowed to skip to the last page. You have to read the whole thing to understand because if you read it out of context, it will seem funny.)

This book, and its characters, will live rent free in my head for the rest of my life. When I finished reading it a week ago I told my book club friends that I was going to need bereavement leave from work so that I could properly mourn both the end of this book, and the loss of so many characters in the story. When you first look at this 850 page book, it can seem overwhelming, let alone listening to 36 hours of an audiobook. And yet, every.single.day, when I got in my car to drive to work, I could not wait to find out what adventures (or misadventures) would my Lonesome Dove friends get into next. I laughed, I gasped, I got ANGRY, I cried. Larry McMurtry is a master storyteller. I'm now off to watch the mini-series so I can spend more time with my friends because I miss them so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Genocide and Fire/Fire injury

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

McMurtry gives such a realistic depiction of the characters in the story that they are more realized in three paragraphs than the main character of a series might be in three entire books. Even characters doesn't feel like the right term sometimes because they just feel like people. People that make bad decisions and keep making them, or contradict themselves constantly. McMurtry's writing doesn't follow arcs as much as it does the natural way of things. It only goes to serve the dreary nature of the novel, but at times it does give its little moments of cheer. 9.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

byrdy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Once I got to page 400 (out of 852), it really started to pick up. Worth a read, but you are probably going to have to force yourself to read especially at the beginning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

harveyrichardwilson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

erynlasbelin's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

kuhnja's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A western Oddysey. Very unlike any other western I’ve consumed before. 

This one took me a minute to get though at almost 900 pages and one missstart. I started this on audio and abandoned it about halfway through because I thought it warranted a little more of my attention and I was so right. I’m glad I restarted from the beginning because it made me appreciate the story so much more. This is one I felt like I would have read and written a paper on in college. I wish I could be in a class and hear the debate and analysis over this one. 

The length helped the epic timeline of the story have more impact. The multiple storylines were an annoyance at first but a delight once I settled in. I loved the interconnectivity. The ending felt a little rushed and tacked on. It was so close to being perfect.

The story was so heartbreaking and raw and real. Trajedy was matter of fact without the drama that most books add. It made the loss feel more like it does in real life. The book was so sad, so funny, so full of longing and what might have been. Hubris and comradery. 

Last year it felt good to hit my reading goal, and this was a different kind of goal, to get through such a long book, but it was such a delight.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

missjazzage's review against another edition

adventurous funny sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal cruelty, Rape, and Pregnancy

deadeye's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Trafficking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

derschnauzbart's review against another edition

adventurous emotional

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Slavery, and Pregnancy