Reviews tagging 'Grief'

When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Solà

8 reviews

cat_22's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Death

Minor: Dementia, Sexual content, Car accident, and Alcohol

bluedilly's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Excrement, Grief, Sexual content, War, and Dementia

Minor: Body horror, Classism, and Gun violence

misty_kb's review

emotional inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: War and Gun violence

ka_cam's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I put ‘character driven’ but really this was place driven, the many voices that make up the chapters include living and spirit humans, mythical beings, plants, animals, and mountains/storms, all in one area centered around probably 50ish years. You follow a few plots through the eyes of the people/places/objects who speak in what I found to be a moving and beautiful meditation on time, connection, place, love, and loss. I really enjoyed the framing and found it a beautiful read, though I suspect not all will. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Violence, Sexual content, Murder, and War

Minor: Body horror, Car accident, Dementia, Blood, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

starrygal's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

One of the best books I have read in awhile. Poetic, entrancing, tragic, realistic, magical, and utterly unlike most other novels. I love the way it gives everyone a voice, even those who normally don't get a say in these stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, War, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Car accident

Minor: Sexual harassment and Excrement

amhud1030's review

emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Excrement, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Dementia, Rape, and Sexual content

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

 When I Sing Mountains Dance is a kaleidoscopic novel with as varied a group of narrators as I’ve come across - a thundercloud, witches, a roebuck, the earth itself, civil war ghosts, mushrooms, water sprites… even the occasional person. The result is a really rich portrait, one with depth and breadth, not just of a single family and the tragedies that befall them, but of the Pyrenees in general - the landscape, the animals, it’s mythologies, the people who live there or pass through - past and present, and the interactions between them all. The writing and translation were beautiful; the language was rich and lush, sometimes playful, other times powerful but always poetic. With the right narrator I can imagine an audio version would be amazing. This won’t be a book for every reader but I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

mckeelyshannon's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

One of my favorite lines from this book is “She stops being the center of her own life, she’s no longer the sap and the blood, because they’ve forced her to renounce everything she ever wanted.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Gun violence, and Grief