Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

30 reviews

cute_emo_bookboy's review

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

It would be five stars if not the info dumping in some parts of the book :/
Still worth reading though.

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noura's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

3.75


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nikkiisreading's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

First of all, I do not think this is a funny or lighthearted book. It's about grief and pain and all the unpretty things that life is made up of. Secondly, it's a very pretty book. The style is quite bizarre and unlike other books.

I remember reading this as an early teenager and not fully understanding everything. To he honest, there are still things that make little sense to me, yet the overarching themes and feelings hit very different now than during my first read-through. I do thoroughly enjoy the book and am happy to have reread it. 

[Small spoiler below]
One of the things that I find most impressive is the characterization of Oskar. He is obviously autistic, but because it's written from his perspective it is never explicitly mentioned and that's is truly beautifully done.

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joshwild's review

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emotional funny reflective 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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sylexlibris's review against another edition

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

3.0


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mdavis26's review

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2.75


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fatfrog's review

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emotional sad 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

4.25


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laurenaf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

This gave me heavy boots. This book is about loss, pain, and the grief of losing someone you love unexpectedly. Set from the perspective of an 8 year old makes it that much sadder, because at that age you still don’t fully understand death or typically have to experience it, and to read that is just gut wrenching. I enjoyed all the characters because they all seemed pretty well developed. I think the use of multiple points of view is interesting, but at times the grandpas perspective vs. the grandmas was confusing and/or slow, I much preferred Oscars adventures. That being said I do understand that the multiple stories was to show the multiple ways of loss and how people handle it differently which was interesting, it just could have been done a little better. There were also some details through which were strange/uncomfortable. I feel like being written in 2005 some of the language was acceptable then but has since been deemed disrespectful from society (i.e. stereotypical thoughts and phrases regarding different races and people w disabilities). I also found the relationship between Oscar and Abby Black a little uncomfortable- specifically the parts where the 40 year old woman wanted to kiss the 9 year old?? That just felt strange and unnecessary.  Overall I enjoyed the main story but the other parts distracted me from loving this book entirely. 

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hannahmai's review

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

A book with the most unique format I've ever read, which sometimes made it really confusing, but it all coming together at the end made it completely worth it. The writing was so clever and you really got a rich image and look into the characters minds.

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reed_ing's review

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challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.0


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