Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

4 reviews

nikexistiertnik's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

i am not okay after finishing this book, reading it affected my whole body and i am incredibly stressed and tense.

that being said, i really enjoyed the way it was written (and the german translation) and having so many different perspectives and characters is a concept i definitely dig.

the ending felt a little weird though

because it seemed like the author just wanted to quickly solve the case in the end to satisfy the reader. don't get me wrong, i was emotionally invested through the whole story and i really loved the writing style in the last chapter (it hurt), but i think having jegor be the kidnapper was kind of an easy way out, although i am happy that the families finally have answers.

i loved learning more about the peninsula, its indigenous people, the culture and politics, which doesn't mean i liked everything i learned, obviously.

although i'm a little sad that we didn't get a lot of time with some of the characters, it was really interesting to read about so many different realities and how these people were (more or less) connected.
thousands of different triggers though, it was really hard to read sometimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Homophobia, Ableism, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Minor: Infertility and Cancer

luananki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

i enjoyed the writing of this book a lot. watching different perspectives and learning how the disappearance impacted quite a lot of people was interesting. i loved learning about kamchatka and russian culture, as well as the diversity of the characters. i’m actually sad that we didn’t get the chance to find out more about some of them.

the end felt a bit out of place but i can live with that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Death and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcoholism and Cancer

claire_s's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Trafficking, Sexism, Racism, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, and Pedophilia

janeycanuck's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

This was not what I needed right now. This felt more like a book of connected short stories versus a novel, which is something I generally enjoy, but these all tended to end on sorrowful or wistful notes and I just need happier stories right now. The writing was captivating, though. I'll definitely pick up further work from Phillips, presuming we're no longer under stay at home orders in a pandemic.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Kidnapping

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Cancer