Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

32 reviews

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

3.5

Well, it took me about 5 years to finish this novel due to a very annoying reading slump, but after finally hitting the story’s stride with the second half, I’m happy to report I did enjoy it. It felt like the very depth of a proper embrace—comforting but yet all consuming. It was not necessarily a funny book like I expected, but more of an introspective look at grief and the different ways we cope with it. In Guncle Patrick’s case that often did include comedy, but also fury and sadness and absurdity and care. Patrick’s relationship with his niece and nephew is the star of the story, but his relationship with everyone in his life, past and present, is unveiled through his love of and life with the children. 

This a book about family and dreams, and how you should never give up on either of them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Car accident, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Blood, and Abandonment

stacy837's review

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia and Terminal illness

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book finds a good balance between over the top humor, parenthood, and grief. It was fun reading all the ways Pat tries to connect with the kids and fails, and watching him work through his grief. He does read like a gay type-character from a comedy movie, though, and I wish the kids got a little more characterization. We don't really see them deal with their grief and they feel like they stop being people when not on screen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Homophobia, Medical content, and Car accident

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual content, Racism, and Alcoholism

Death of partner, gay couple not able to be together in hospital, earthquake, toxic family relationship

raysh3ll's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book. It was a fairly light/easy read dispite having some heavy hitting parts also. There was a moment or 2 that got me a bit teary eyed. Overall I thought it had a good balance of heavier hitting topics and comedy.

I consumed this book in audiobook format (which is read by the author). 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

lastsilversunset's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content

danajoy's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Addiction

mlindsay27's review

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident and Body shaming

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

3.5

I felt like this book was a little overhyped. I thought it was cute and had some poignant moments which were very sweet. I found the main character to be a bit pretentious and his gayness was over-exaggerated to make the story more flamboyant and colorful. The character seemed more a caricature of what it means to be a gay, white man in Hollywood/Palm Springs and that felt like an uncomfortable juxtaposition against the visceral way grief and loss was described in this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Cancer, Drug use, Grief, Car accident, Infidelity, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

mommarex1221's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

4.5 🍸

I absolutely adored this book, and the narration by the author was fabulous. 
Mostly hilarious, a little sad and a little scandalous. I was waiting for tears to be triggered, but they never were. That's alright, I still felt the story dealt with grief very well. The children were a highlight, especially on audio book. As a mother of a 6 year old, I was immediately drawn to Grant. The ending is... chef's kiss. I need to see this as a limited series!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Car accident, Death of parent, Addiction, Cancer, Death, and Medical content

seawarrior's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

The Guncle is a story that successfully balances humor with tragedy by exploring our protagonist's unresolved grief as he works to understand himself in order to understand his grieving niece and nephew. Despite these tough themes, the novel is ultimately a lighthearted one, characterized by a sunshine-y, idyllic tone. Patrick is a flawed protagonist, and one desperately out of touch with the world, yet he did endear himself to me as the book went on and we learned more about why he treats life as a stage with himself in the starring role. I appreciated the themes of how trauma warps ourselves until it warps our relationships with our families, and how we have a responsibility to be kind to ourselves so that we may be kinder to the next generation. Rowley was great at writing expanded descriptions of locations and emotions, and in supplying a joke whenever possible. While this story may feel unrelatable to many because of Patrick's wealth, I would still recommend it to other readers looking for more gay narratives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault