Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

25 reviews

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

 Really, truly, spectacular. This is such a beautiful interwoven story spun across multiple lifetimes. It was delightful to see how each life connected with the other. Each character feels tangible and real, they all have so much depth and personality. Each plot-line is gripping and it is impossible to not feel for the characters. Seymour especially, I think, is beautifully written. His mental illness is incredibly accurately done, and he is never once demonized for it. Each character, despite their actions, kind or otherwise, is written and treated with respect and empathy. It's such a beautiful tale of humanity and kindness and struggle, and all of it is portrayed with such well researched nuance and intelligence. Definitely one of the best books if you want to feel something that is neither fully happy nor sad, but a cathartic combination of both. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Violence, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Death of parent, War, Gun violence, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, Pedophilia, Classism, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Slavery, Alcohol, Dementia, Drug use, and Excrement

kristinj1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

Honestly, I am not exactly sure how to review this book. It's incredibly intricate, incredibly well written with a very strong eye toward character development. It's a really unique construction of a story, I think that the premise of the book itself is very fascinating. I definitely felt a strong connection to the story, which is actually pretty interesting because I don't think I can say that I had a strong connection to any of the characters. Not that they were written poorly or they were unbelievable, I just had the chance to move between them so often in service of the larger story. I also still really wish there had been more of a fine point on the ending, like what actually is happening on earth? Especially the story with the spaceship.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Blood, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Animal death, Classism, and Death of parent

tschmitty's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

The struggle was real, characters of different time lines loosely and eventually drawn together. I can't say I enjoyed this, but I can appreciate good writing. I much preferred <i> All The Light </i>. I now question my ability to enjoy and endure a complex story, but many people have felt differently about this book, so I am not in the majority. I liked Zeno and his arc the most, I think I would have enjoyed a story entirely about him.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Animal death, Blood, and Violence

frannyrdclark's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Gun violence

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, War, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

naomi_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Confinement, Dysphoria, War, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Animal death, and Homophobia

Minor: Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Child death, Excrement, Alcohol, Sexual content, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

nora_knight's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

This book is a beautiful ode to stories, books and libraries. It connects the very human lives of characters scattered across time with a simple story that survived all odds to be told again and again. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, and Mass/school shootings

wormgirl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, War, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Child death, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Grief, and Rape

aguattery's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

I've been struggling with how to review this. The first half is well written but SO slow paced, it was hard to get through. I almost dnf'ed. Once it's starts to pick up though it's not difficult to get invested. Also, out of the five storylines I really enjoyed three. I understood the purpose of the other two but I wasn't attached to them. 

Beyond this being a beautiful ode to books I think it can really provide some perspective for those fearing the climate crisis (such as myself). And even though I'm not super familiar or interested in Greek mythology the way it's woven into the story didn't make me feel as lost as it usually does. 

Overall the first half was boring but beautiful and the second half was everything I want in a book - beautiful, exciting, emotional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Gun violence, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

jlautry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

3.5

I am torn on how to rate this book. I give the first half two stars, but the second half deserves a strong four star rating. This book was very slow to start and, being 600 pages long, that’s not good for me as a reader. If I hadn’t seen the reviews, this probably would have been a DNF for me. 

The beginning is very confusing because there are four different storylines, four different time periods, and within those time periods, the story jumps forward and backward. For me, this was really hard to keep track of and I ended up marking and color coding each of the story changes with tabs at the top of the book so that when I came back to a certain storyline I could flip back to the last couple of sections and remember where I was in the story. It was also very boring for about the first 250 pages. I mean, it literally put me to sleep a few times. 

Around p.350 (over halfway through) the story began to pick up steam and became interesting. I was able to read the latter part of the book in just a couple days, whereas the first half took me nearly 3 weeks. In the end, I am glad I finished it. The stories do eventually come together and the pieces start to fall into place. 

I loved Zeno’s story and he was lovable, but also heartbreaking. Anna and Omeir’s story was my favorite one for so many reasons, but mainly it’s how their story ended that solidified their place at #1 for me. The book ending was a really good balance of leaving it open ended and, at the same time, tying up loose ends.  It gave much cause for reflection about one’s self, interpersonal relationships, the world, and preservation and value of history. 

While, by the end, I enjoyed both of this author’s books, I am unlikely to pick up another of his. The stories are extremely long (but with beautiful imagery!) and slow to start, and the man has a serious grudge against commas. I cannot get over the lack of comma usage and the amount of temporary confusion it causes me throughout the book. If you haven’t read either of his books, I do recommend you read at least one of his! He’s not the author for me, but I can see how his style would be good for other types of readers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent, Chronic illness, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Murder

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, War, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Animal death, Death, and Chronic illness

Minor: Rape, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, and Violence