Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

8 reviews

mandareads222's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Confinement, and Body shaming

Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Death, Murder, Animal death, Child death, and Physical abuse

cassie7e's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beatifully crafted YA book, with so much worldbuilding without being told, culture and politics and relationships we learn by seeing them, and seeing them begin to be challenged in the mind of our main character. And the visual imagery of gathering blue, along with the threads and dyeing process, still captivate my artist brain.

It's been ages since I read this as a kid; either I do not remember or I did not register when I was young just how dark a world the characters live in. Actions that on the surface are single unpleasant moments paint a deeper, oppressive undercurrent that my adult self could pick up on and interpret long before the book and character explain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Minor: Blood and Fire/Fire injury

nortsapa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

kira my beloved 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, and Cannibalism

chrysanthxmum's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Death, Confinement, Child abuse, Murder, Child death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery and Sexism

bonluvdon's review

mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

After reading The Giver so many times growing up, throughout this book I was like "I thought this was a series. How are these stories related?" This book doesn't answer that question! (Though it is still an amazing story.) The connection between the two worlds is made in the next book: The Messenger.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Confinement, Child abuse, and Child death

sagenguyen's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Death of parent

Minor: Child death

marinapaso11's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Murder, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Child death, and Child abuse

Minor: Confinement

grinchem's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Gathering Blue is a very human story of a girl trying to find a place in the world, and gradually learning that the world is not what she thought it was. This is not an action story, it pulls off its impressive moments of narrative tension without that. I could hardly put it down, the story was immersive and engaging, with a well fleshed-out world, and 3-dimensional characters. Classic dystopian stories (which I love) sometimes have a habit of making the characters 2 dimensional, in favor of the plot, to better make their point. And in some stories that works to great and memorable effect. This is not one of those. This is a dystopian story in which the characters are so human that I actually forgot I was reading dystopian for awhile. Gathering Blue accomplishes all this without for a second sacrificing the story's main point.

Read for the characters, read for the plot, read for the point it makes, no matter what you're reading for you will not be disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Ableism

Minor: Abandonment, Child death, Murder, Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, and Suicide

None of these are treated like they're good, in fact the story makes a big point about ableism, but these things are present and could be upsetting to some readers