Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Sidérations by Richard Powers

4 reviews

blessedbamboo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Ableism, and Cursing

hollyd19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

4.75

Reading Bewilderment felt like diving without an oxygen tank, knowing that when you break to go to the surface the coral will disappear, so you hold your breath until it hurts and keep your eyes wide because the beauty is overwhelming but the panic is setting in, too.

Bewilderment follows Theo, an astrophysicist widower, and his young, neurodiverse son named Robin. The two are attempting to navigate their increasingly unstable world, on a personal level after the loss of their wife/mom & in terms of climate change and political unrest. When Robin is threatened with expulsion for an outburst at school, Theo enrolls him in a neurofeedback study happening at his university, which sets in motion the rest of the book. 

This was my first Powers and I was very moved by his writing. I took so many notes and highlighted several passages. Relatedly, I felt that Robin’s neurodiversity was portrayed with tenderness and honesty. 

Now some minor spoilers to talk about why it wasn’t an unequivocal five stars.

I strongly dislike gratuitous tragedy and since the rest of the book felt masterfully subdued, I was pretty bothered by the revelation that Aly was pregnant when she died. It added nothing. In a similar vein, I was unsatisfied with how Powers wrote the bit about Aly’s possible infidelity. At first it was guardedly hinted at, but when Theo asks “Is he mine?” it felt a bit ham-handed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Animal death, and Self harm

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia

camilleemcl's review against another edition

1.0

I did not like it 
It felt condescending.
It was sad.
I felt like it tried to cover some important discussions but I did not appreciate the way there were handled 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing

internationalreads's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, and Xenophobia