Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

7 reviews

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review

emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Hate crime, Racism, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Suicidal thoughts

martachbc's review

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

𝔽𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕪 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℝ𝕒𝕚𝕟 is tough for me to review, because I didn’t hate it, but I struggled with it a lot. I actually finished it a while ago (if you can’t tell from the decidedly not-winter pic), but I’ve been marinating on it since.

Set in Japan right after WW2, Fifty Words for Rain tells the coming-of-age story of Noriko Kamiza, the biracial child of her upper-class mother and an American soldier. Her mother leaves her with her grandparents who either ignore or abuse her — until her half-brother moves in. Yet her saga doesn’t stop there: She’s sold to a geisha facility, rescued yet again by her brother (with whom she has a very weird, though not line-crossing relationship), stuck in a bizarrely abusive relationship, and periodically, Grandma shows up to tell her how much she sucks. It’s a lot.

Where I think I land on Fifty Words For Rain: the story was compelling, but I had too many complaints to love it fully. 

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕕:

• A diverse main character in whom you could find both inspiration and sympathy
• A compelling epic spanning decades that made me not want to put it down

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝔻𝕚𝕕𝕟’𝕥:

• Apparently the author began writing this as a teenager… and TBH the writing was showed that at times
• This could border on torture porn. Every bad thing possible happened to Nori. 
• As a character, Nori’s development felt stunted, then jumpy. I don’t always think she stayed true to her character.

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀’𝕞 ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝔸𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥:

• The end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Fatphobia, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

patricia0227's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

I was gripped from the beginning and couldn't put it down. I didn't particularly enjoy some of the plot points and characters' choices, but really an excellent novel with great world building. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Torture

bookreadreceipts's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Self harm, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Confinement

mmalone's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Self harm, Racism, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Car accident, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion

thevietvegan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.0

It is a tragically beautiful read. It’s simply pain upon pain but it’s still so hopeful despite how bleak it is. It seems so painfully unnecessary to put Nori through everything she went through. Do not read this story unless you’re ready for your heart to break multiple times.

Also trigger warnings galore. Like everything that could possibly have gone wrong went wrong. Like truly a fucking tragedy this book is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Vomit, and Xenophobia

churameru's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Vomit, and Xenophobia