Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

22 reviews

toriamos's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0

The ending is a bit abrupt, it really took away from the rest of the story as Emilio seemed to recover too soon from the revelation of events. Took away from the rest of the story imo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Police brutality

samstg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Rape, Body horror, and Excrement

wyrmes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Torture, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infertility and Vomit

ladymickbeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Child death, Medical content, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

This is a beautifully written book with a unique and engaging narrative voice and characters that are flawed, but likeable or understandable. I would have given this a higher rating, but there are a number of micro aggressions (primarily against Emilio, who is Latino) and problematic comments.

conqueringsquid's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Blood, Chronic illness, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

bogbody05's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Slavery, and Rape

smallredboy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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? No

5.0

This is one of those novels that as soon as you finish reading them you will know they will stick with you for a long, long time. I don't even know how to say anything that I want to say. But incredible book. Read it.

Edit a few days after this fact: This is a complex book. It's very much Jewish, even when it deals largely with Jesuits, as it gives you a thousand questions about God (including the good ol' "if God exists, why do horrible things happen?" question) but provides exactly zero answers (maybe half an answer), which is very much a Jewish thing to do. The characters are alive, almost too alive, enough for the foregone conclusion to hurt even before it happens. The way it deals with trauma (mental, physical and sexual) is realistic and cathartic, believable; I feel for Emilio deeply. While I don't know much about science, most of it felt pretty realistic, and I absolutely adored the focus on anthropology and linguistics, as that I understand some more of. The non-linear narrative makes it better, in my opinion; the sinking dread having an understanding of what's going to happen while hope is still high in the air is incredible.

It's a very heavy book, with a thousand trigger warnings to be given. But if you can read it, I really do recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: War

inkfingers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.75

The Sparrow is a first contact story set in the near future. The characters are well developed and engaging, and while some of the plot points or discussions may seem like rabbit trails or odd distractions, by the end they form a coherent thematic picture. The linguistic and anthropological discussions are interesting and reminded me a bit of Ursula K. Le Guin’s sci fi. 

The in media res framing effectively cuts between the horrible aftermath and the exuberant pre-disaster lives of the crew. Knowing the tragedy from the first paragraph does not make it harder to get attached to the fleshed out crew, but it did make every misfortune and miscommunication even more tense.

The putting together of the mission and crew does feel extremely convenient, but the characters consider the pieces falling together a sign of divine intervention but question it later as things go wrong. As long as the reader is willing to meet the book on its own terms and see it as a kind of eucatastrophe, it does reward the suspension of disbelief.

The horrible end of the mission is hinted at from the beginning, and a careful reader may guess what went wrong, but Russell holds the whole truth back until the last fifty pages of the book when Emilio finally tells the Father General what happened. Then the catastrophe plays out at breakneck speed and earns 80% of the novel’s tag warnings in quick succession so heed those even if you aren’t very squeamish.

This book is a discussion of faith and suffering in the league of Silence by Shūsaku Endō, offering no easy answers about a crisis of faith and God’s silence. 
The last fifty pages of this book laid me out like a Victorian lady taken to her bed with a dreadful illness, and I expect I won’t recover until I read the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Rape

Moderate: Violence and Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Medical content

lesbegays's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, Car accident, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, and Xenophobia

scoulson2011's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

Minor: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness