Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Les Bien-aimés by Ann Napolitano

192 reviews

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is full of sadness! I like the story telling. I like the set up, but it felt like gut punch after gut punch. 

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional sad 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 ⭐️! so breathtakingly beautiful and heart wrenching - this book so perfectly walked through the difficult emotions of love and heartbreak and human suffering and family trauma. taking off half a star because it did almost send me into a depressive episode with all its utter sadness 

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional reflective sad tense

 The story follows William Waters who grew up in a family that was utterly broken by the death of his older sister. William is finding a new family after meeting his college love Julia. Everything seems too good to be true and William is finally feeling like he found a place he belongs to but his past is still haunting him. 

I read Dear Edward back in 2021 and it actually was my favourite read of the year and so I was very excited to read the latest book by the author. Napolitano's writing style is so beautiful and captivating it was lovely to follow the path of those characters. The story is told by four POVs, William, Julia, her sister Sylvie and Alice. I went in blind and I was not sure where this story was going to for a very long time but I just enjoyed the ride. The pacing is rather slow and this book is heavily character driven. I loved the dynamic of the sisters the most and I often found myself in the character of Sylvie.
It follows William and the Padavano sisters over the course of several decades and the story is filled with tragedy, hope, forgiveness, healing, family and so much more.
The story is loosely based on Mary Alcott's Little Women, but I have not read it yet so I can't say much about it. If you read both books I would love to hear your thoughts! 
Overall a very enjoyable read, with lots of ups and downs and lessons about what really is important in life. 

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

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