Reviews tagging 'Death'

Laten we aanbidden by Ann-Marie MacDonald

8 reviews

beth_simmons's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Oof. I made it through this book, but only just. So much trauma, and really heavy plot lines. Well-written, though. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use

sydneyhooker's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident

corareading's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Annual reread (or listen, in this case).
This will always be my favorite non-fantasy/sci-fi novel. It’s always absolutely heartbreaking and overwhelmingly heartwarming at the same time. I struggle to capture what this book means to me in words. It’s just somehow so reflective of the reality of “family” - family dynamics are inherently complex and nuanced and Ann-Marie captures this perfectly. Abuses both severe and petty, neglect, misunderstanding, etc. are countered perfectly as much with equal parts love, gentleness, and kindness (not by James though, of course). I think it likely shocks people what the Piper girls go through, but I see it as so real. How they handle these things is so real. “Normal” families do not exist and this book encapsulates that in full.
I will always recommend this for those who can handle the content warnings.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse

Minor: Miscarriage, Racism, Pregnancy, Classism

dreamerfreak's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

decembermagpie's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pregnancy

Minor: War

beanjoles's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

I first listened to this story as an audiobook several years ago. This was my first time reading the book. It was a truly moving experience. This story is an exploration of one family and its secrets, and of how trauma is passed down from one generation to the next. It is a love letter to Cape Breton—to Nova Scotia—in all its potential and difficulty and beauty. To say more would be to spoil the journey for those yet to embark. And this book is certainly a journey worth embarking upon. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Suicide, War

Pedophilia (general theme):

James, the family patriarch, is shown to be a pedophile with a sexual interest in his daughters. There is one scene where he molests one of them.

(HEAVY late book spoilers):

One of the protagonists is raped and impregnated by a parent.

Injury/injury detail:

A pregnant woman is given a home-made Caesarean section. It is about as gruesome as you would expect. There is also a scene where someone is shot in the abdomen with a gun.

Suicide:

Someone commits suicide by sticking their head in an oven. The scene is described but I would not characterize it as something likely to be triggering, and it is not gory.

hellokatya's review against another edition

4.0

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: Complicated

---

this was an amazing book. it was my first time reading anything of the sort, so i was unsure what to expect, but let me tell you: it was not that. my only gripe is: i wish she had made the passage of time more clear. it was very hard at times to figure out what period of time things are taking place in, or how close in successions events occurred. this book took my heart, held it, crushed it, bandaged it up, spit on it, and threw it in a dumpster. there were some parts of the book i had to re-read or sit and think about, but i think that's a positive more than it is a negative; it made my brain put in effort. the pacing got a little shaky at times, but the overall story + the ending made everything worthwhile.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Incest

Minor: Racial slurs, Dysphoria

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

The synopsis of this book doesn't give much away about it. And I do feel that is a positive because I went in blindly and let the story take me where it wanted to go. It was a challenging book and took some time to get into the rhythm of, but I would say about 100 pages in, I had an ah-ha moment and from there it just flowed for me. This story is very well written and showcases such a cast of characters. The dynamics of the relationships were strong and compelling. The characters were rich. Lily was my personal favourite. She just felt so relatable.  This story was sad and dark and challenging and I know that does not work for everyone, but I enjoyed it for what it was. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault