Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar

58 reviews

gabriella_'s review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I’m gonna be honest I found this book kinda pretentious. I don’t like a “learn on the job” approach to lore/world building when I barely have time to get a sense of what the actual setting is - and the mental mindfuck of added details made me feel even more lost at sea.

I loved the letters and the main characters’ dynamic. Some scenes had prose-writing so beautiful it read like poetry. The final quarter of the book had me in its grasp.

This book had a dreamlike quality to it, like a fairy tale. It feels like if 1984 meets Snow White meets Revolutionary Girl Utena meets Camus’ The Stranger. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Murder, Xenophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Torture, War, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

spookily's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Grief, War, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Confinement, Murder, Torture, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Gun violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Cursing, Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Child death

broccoli_j's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

In the words of bigolas dickolas:
„read this (book)“

I, and the internet, know with my whole heart that this is going to be a classic. 

This book is pure genius, you don’t need to like sci-fi or love story’s or wars to like this story. This story will make you like it. 
If you love literature, you will love this book. This is just the rule!

So, enjoy reading!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Death, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, and Emotional abuse

elspeth_h's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Genocide, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Torture

q_bert13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

An interestingly arranged story of correspondence between two alien agents of opposing forces. Not plot heavy at all- chapters include little increments of world building/action, and end with a letter addressed from one mc to the other. A quick, possibly at times confusing read- but overall super enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal death, Violence, Death, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, and War

Moderate: Stalking, Genocide, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Colonisation, Body shaming, and Sexual content

jasminawithab's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

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

4.75

might bump it up to a 5 star on a reread

i actively do not like time travel and sci fi as a whole isnt something i gravitate towards, but oh gods did i adore this book. my most prevalent annotation was just "AAAA". im not joking, i probably wrote it at least 20 times.

the twist at the end was admittedly one i saw coming (i guessed it by the second letter) but i could not figure out how it worked so it was still interesting and shocking when it did get revealed.

 per my adult/minor relationship cw:

one of the main characters (Red; an adult) travels back in time and kisses the other main character (Blue) who was a child at the time with romantic intent and for other more spoilery reasons. this comes at the end of the novella after the two have already fallen in love and confessed when they are adults. while Blue was fine with it in the future/present when she realizes it was Red, she did not consent or know what was happening when she was a child. i added the cw because this made me feel a bit iffy and i felt like it could have been resolved another way. it was literally only a paragraph or two though

fav quotes:

"[i am] yours as i review your words by their sequence, their sound, smell, taste, taking care no one memory of them becomes too worn"

"i want to meet you in every place i have loved"

"there was, i am sure, a time i did not know you. or did i dream that me, as i've so often dreamed of you?"

"i'll be all the poets, i'll kill them all and take each ones place in turn, and every time love's written in all the strands it will be to you"

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, War, Violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Sexism, and Murder

seraphimgt's review

challenging emotional funny reflective 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

5.0

Knocking off a star because it reminded me of the existence of cochineal insects. And just bug eating in general.

In all seriousness, this was a difficult read. It made so many references to history and science and literature that went straight over my head. It was more abstract than literal which I don't usually read so I really had to take my time with this book in order to understand it. It was beautiful and the ending really got me.

Edit: Okay so I don't know if it was because this was a reread or if it's because I listened to it in audio book format this time, but it was significantly better this go around. 4.0 ➡️ 5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and War

phantomgecko's review against another edition

dark inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

For the first few pages, I thought I wasn't smart enough for this book. The secret is to just accept what is happening in the moment and not try to piece anything together. The story will unfold. You don't have to understand every minute thing that happens.

I loved the tiny glimpses of worlds presented throughout. Appreciated the cultural references. Very witty in its use of language. Added several words to my vocab list.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Torture

arbitrary_convenience's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

I had such high hopes for this book. I’ve been waiting so long to read it. But it didn’t deliver the way I was hoping. 

The story it was trying to tell was great. I love how it tied together at the end. The story itself was so so good. 

The writing is what’s holding it back. Especially in the beginning, the sentences are clunky. They’re choppy and it makes the book a struggle to read. There are parts where the sentences are all very short and staccato. There are parts where the chosen words sound like they’re chosen to sound fancy and sophisticated rather than actually chosen to carry the pint. It’s hard to follow simply because of the word choice. Which is frustrating because the story was so fascinating! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Torture, Blood, and Suicidal thoughts

booksofautumn's review

adventurous challenging emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Colonisation, Animal death, Death, and War