Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

46 reviews

alexandriatp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Death

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This was a very unique story, spanning over many years, and is apocalyptic and beautiful. I liked the first half better than tge second, the writing is beautiful and the story heartbreaking. Would recommend if you're interested in ecology and the potential future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Grief

cnowery's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Beautifully written, I was ALL IN from the first chapter. I was so invested in this little family (biological and found) and the fight to survive. There were moments of horror and tragedy, and yes I did ugly-cry. But there were also beautiful moments of mundanity that come with simply being a human trying to survive. While this book gave me anxiety about climate change and our fate in the distant/not-so-distant future, it did so in a way that wasn’t preachy/hopeless OR overly optimistic. I can’t say enough good things honestly, I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Violence and Gun violence

jessismoore's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Murder, Dementia, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death

Natural disasters

kelseylee123's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Animal death, and Body horror

hmatt's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

4.25

It's a rarity, at least in the range of speculative fiction that I usually read, to encounter a book that so thoroughly looks at the "in-between times". So often, we're plopped into a near-future where things have mostly transitioned to a "new" way of being post-climate disaster/pandemic/whatever. The Light Pirate doesn't do this: It takes the reader through the before, mid, and after in heart-wrenching detail, and is a much better story for it.

That said, this book is definitely a slower burn. Very, very dramatic things happen but they almost feel muted because of how they're described. I didn't hate this, it's just something to note. We're taken through the entire life of the main character (who is "The Light Pirate") from multiple perspectives.

There are maybe supernatural elements to this story, but I thought the author did a great job of keeping that mostly vague, as though they could also be explained through science.

I've tagged the book as hopeful because it is - despite experiencing incredible loss throughout her life, the main character persists.

I've started and not finished one of the author's other novels multiple times, and my enjoyment of this one may just be the push I need to actually push through it this year

Loved the little romance at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, Bullying, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

corngod31's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

ree333's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Death, and Child death

nutmegandpumpkin's review

challenging emotional inspiring sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

It made me anxious about the future of Florida but was beautifully written and sad but not without hope. The way the decline of society / structure is shown in the book feels very realistic. 

Some quick info:
• spans over an entire lifetime
• set in a fictional town in SE Florida
• a little sapphic 
• post apocalyptic? The fall of society? Nature taking back?
• SAD :(
• but brings up important points and ideas

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Dementia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Gore

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Child death

katiemack's review

adventurous challenging hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This is incredibly depressing, probably because it's not far off from what our world could look like in the coming decades. The apocalyptic, survivalist themes reminded me of The Last of Us but, you know, with fewer fungi. As callous as this sounds, the novel starts off slow but becomes more engaging after a certain character dies and the world starts to deteriorate further.

Despite its terrifying realism, there is a healthy dose of magical realism. While I wish the manifestation of Wanda's "light pirate" ability had been explained more, I do understand its purpose based on the end of the novel. (Speaking of the end of the novel, it's...kind of...a happy ending.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Bullying