Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti

8 reviews

javafenn's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Dana is dying so she brings her children to her beloved home to see out the last of her days before she dies by assisted suicide but not before she releases her obituary, before she’s even gone. What culminates is all of her children coming to terms with her death but also her life and her regrets in how she built an empire for them without taking the time to truly know them. This book was so sad but so happy. So fraught with generational trauma but also with care and love. Seeing how each child and their extended families dealt with Dava’s decisions was very interesting. It’s a great story of love and loss and the narrator was excellent. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Classism, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Addiction, Sexual content, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, and Infidelity

modryzamek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Death, Racism, Death of parent, Abortion, Infidelity, and Alcoholism

khayes694's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

I love a complicated matriarch and Dava Shastri delivered on that front! Her obsession with legacy and her devotion to her philanthropic mission made her an equal parts admirable and frustrating figure. It was fascinating to see her last days through the eyes of her large, messy family and understand the ripple effects of her decisions—both ones she made years ago and ones she made in the months leading up to her death. I also appreciated this look at medically-assisted death and how every member of the family processed her choice in their own way. The audiobook was read by a talented narrator and included a little clip of the song "Dava," which was a lovely and unexpected treat.

Personally, I didn't have a problem keeping track of the characters because I found their personalities to be very distinctive. But I agree with reviewers who point out that all of the other family members were shallowly developed in comparison to Dava. I also thought this book was longer than it needed to be, especially given the aforementioned critique. All in all, this was a strong debut and I'm looking forward to Ramisetti's next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism and Infidelity

Minor: Domestic abuse

onmalsshelf's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Thank you Grand Central for an ARC and a finished copy in exchange for a review. 

Dava Shastri has ulterior motives.

Dava Shasri is a horrible person.

Dava Shastri's last day was too long.

Dava Shastri did not raise a single decent person.

Dava Shastri traumatized her grandchildren. 

Interesting premise that did not deliver. Too many unlikeable people and no one to cheer for except maybe a son-in-law, Colin, and the four grandkids.

Dava basically gathered her family at their family compound to find how what the world would say about her death, but she ended up finding out what her kids thought about her and her actions when they were younger. 

For a character driven novel - there was zero character development for anyone minus Dava (and that wasn’t even that great).

I do recommend the audiobook. Soneela Nankani was fantastic and I’d love to dive into other audiobooks she’s done. Plus, there was the song ‘Dava’ at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Homophobia, Infidelity, Grief, Biphobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcoholism

caseythereader's review

challenging emotional funny reflective 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, and Sexual content

sleeson's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Suicide, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Death of parent

valerie_roller's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.0

The book is well written. I loved the diverse characters. The story itself dragged, which is why I didn’t rate this book higher. I just wanted the story to move along.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Alcoholism, and Death of parent