Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

10 reviews

angorarabbit's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

2.5

TW:  Postpartum depression is particularly graphic and disturbing, chapter 3 was particularly hard to read. I skimmed the latter portion of chapter 25 which depicted stalking. The racial slur was very out of the blue and had nothing to do with the plot. There is limited diversity, a minor character was described as black but there was nothing else about him.

 

TLDR:  Great characterisation for the most part. This is not a detective novel but a multifamily drama. 

 

Bloopholes: If you mean to kill someone, after knocking them unconsciousness wouldn’t you finish the job unless you were disturbed.? 

 

Context: I loved Life After Life, I wanted to throw A God in Ruins at the wall.I had previously attempted this novel but stalled out at chapter 3. 

 

Ms. Atkinson writes the internal dialogue of young girls like no other author I’ve read. She falls a little when it comes to adults, particularly males. I thought the characterisation of the male protagonist was excellent but the other males where all a bit weak or absent. One man seemed to be characterised partly by his weight. Two female children are interesting as children but as adults are tiresome and a bit unbelievable. 

 

That being said I do have some problems with the plot besides the bloophole already mentioned. 

 

Rule 1 of Knox’s Decalogue is broken. Other mysteries are fairly easy it work out ahead of the reveal. There is also a ghost of Dickens with a surprise legacy that bails out a character. 

 

The next one really bugged me and I’m apologise that I cant express myself better. The representation of a possible Ace character. Their disgust/facimation of sex is based on childhood trauma and not on their possible orientation. Once they have an organism then they suddenly become Bi? Really? I’m not sure it works like that. 

 

Lastly for all the males and children in this book we do not have the viewpoint of any male children. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Body shaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Death, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Abortion, Alcohol, Cancer, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racial slurs

The racial slur was superfluous. The Acephobia is based on my reading of the possible orientation of one of the characters. Chapter three is a graphic depiction of untreated postpartum depression. Multiple characters suffer mild to severe childhood trauma.

rowanrelph's review

hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Infidelity, Infertility, Fatphobia, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Animal death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Rape, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Child death, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Dementia, Addiction, and Cancer

phantomgecko's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

A mystery, I guess, but it's really about people. How do horrible things affect them?

Good use of braiding narratives though. Love when things are interconnected like this.

Also, a number of things/references that I didn't understand totally. British things, mostly political, some cultural. I don't think it greatly affected my understanding of the entire book, though.

Interesting read, but I didn't love it. The characters, while intriguing, weren't loveable to me. And I spent a good deal of time being anxious/depressed over crimes against children.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Rape, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Sexual content, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Classism, Death, and Stalking

julziez's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and Incest

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Classism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Stalking

uranaishi's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Car accident, Infidelity, Rape, Violence, Classism, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Infertility, War, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Blood, Body shaming, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, and Gun violence

laura_keoski's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Child death, and Incest

Moderate: Fatphobia, Grief, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Stalking

amberinbookland's review

medium-paced

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Grief

gabriella's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

I was mildly disappointed that the attacks aimed at Jackson were completely unrelated to any of the murders. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Incest, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion, Cancer, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Medical content

jitterbugsnap's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

Admittedly I'm new to the genre, but it definitely felt more like a character novel than a mystery. I'd probably rate it higher if I had been more interested in the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Incest, Violence, Racial slurs, Grief, Fatphobia, and Child death

Minor: Suicide

starsnotshadows's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I did not like many of the characters for most of the book, but towards the end became much more sympathetic to them. The cases were very compelling, and I did want to keep reading to find how everything worked together. Some of it was satisfying, and some of it was disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts