Reviews with content warning for Grief - How to Make Friends with the Dark

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow

57 reviews

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

4.0

It's always been just Tiger and her mother June. A well-oiled mother and daughter team. Until her mom suddenly dies and leaves Tiger all alone. How does one survive such a thing?

This is primarly a book about grief. Grief expresses itself in different ways, and for Tiger it leads to an ocean of tears, an inability to eat, and a refusal to take off the dress her mother bought her, although Tiger hates it. The author is very skilled at describing how Tiger manages her grief, but that also makes it pretty hard to read. At first I find it a bit repetitive and too much rumination about the same things. But the more I read, the more Tiger comes to life.

Tiger is 16 years old, but often acts like she's at least a couple of years younger. June has been very overprotective and never let her go to parties or camps, or meet boys, and that could well be why Tiger feels younger. The two of them have been an almost isolated unit, and I believe that makes June's death even worse for Tiger. There's no safety net and she ends up in the system with foster care. There she discovers that there are children whose parents have abused them, or simply didn't care about them; the opposite of what Tiger has experienced. Apart from her mom's refusal to tell her about her father, so Tiger doesn't know anything about him, or if he's alive.

It's no exaggeration that Tiger's world is turned upside down by her mom's death. She becomes a part of a world she's never known, going to and from different foster homes, until they can find a permanent solution. The author shows us both good and bad places, good and bad foster parents - just like it is in the real world. It's an emotional and sometimes tough read, but very beautifully written. I went from thinking the book dragged on somewhat, to not wanting it to end!

"All your life, you've loved words and language, even if you aren't great at school. You've loved weird words and smart words and beautiful words and awkward words, all of them. Podunk. Mastermind. Effluvium. Macrosomatic. Hullabaloo.

But there isn't a single word in the universe that you can think of that would describe the way you feel right now."

Content Warnings

josiebug's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

I liked it way more than girl in pieces, not sure why it’s less popular

Content Warnings

catherine_g_96's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I loved this book much. It so beautifully discussed grief, loss, trauma, the foster care system, and other important topics. It was such an emotional story, and so well put together.

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janika96's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

Definetly a tearjerker.

Content Warnings

ellasara's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

waaaaaaaaaa niin hyvä ja niin surullinen, en jotenkin aatellut että tykkäisin tästä näin paljon ??? ajattelin tätä koko ajan ja en halunnut tehdä mitään muuta kuin lukea tätä. suunnilleen aina kun luin tätä mä kuuntelin lamp genso albumia ja se oli jotenkin täydellistä, ne kappaleet onnistui osumaan juuri oikeanlaisiin kohtiin kirjassa.
mutta niin oli kivuliasta lukee tätä mun sydän särkyi koko ajan

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