Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

28 reviews

noerlund's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Don’t know about this rating. Some parts of the book I really liked - some parts I really didn’t. I did like Oscars character and point of view - especially his friendship with Mr Black. But part of the ending

(digging up his father’s grave)

kind of ruined it a bit for me. Why was that bit necessary? However I did like that the story didn’t have a typical happy ending,

and that there wasn’t a deeper meaning behind the key

The other POVs (Oscar’s grandfather and grandmother) really didn’t do anything for me. I just found it boring and kind of annoying; why was we supposed to feel so sad for his grandfather;

yes, Anna died, but seriously - he just decided to stop talking and ran away from his family and unborn son?

Overall not a completely bad read, but far from a five star read too. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Violence, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Minor: Self harm

emmaevns's review

adventurous emotional mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and War

noura's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm

nikkiisreading's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Self harm, War, Xenophobia, Death, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Sexism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Bullying, Car accident, Cancer, and Incest

doramak's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse

sylexlibris's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Grief

quinnpjd930's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.25

Lots of super great emotional and poignant parts in this book, but I was pretty off-put by the frequent dropping of the R-slur, and casual references to incest, pedophilia, sexual trauma, and how shockingly fine everyone was with a nine year old walking around NYC alone? Part mesmerizing and part bizarre… I understand the hype but I feel this missed the mark for me a bit

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Grief, Bullying, Mental illness, Child death, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, War, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Miscarriage

fatfrog's review

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, and Abandonment

reed_ing's review

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, War, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, Child death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Suicidal thoughts

abiveeke's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief