Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch

7 reviews

easygoingelizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, and mysterious story with luscious writing! It's told through two time periods, with the main character in the later time period unraveling some of the secrets and mysteries of her family. I'm leaving from this story heartbroken from how the conflicts in Russia affected the families and lives of the characters, but I feel like I don't have a very good understanding of the history behind everything. I have some learning to do there! There is a lot of mystery packed into this story and I definitely don't have all of the answers that I was hoping to have. I noticed that often the reader was meant to infer something; details were left unsaid. This was amazing in adding to the intrigue of the story but I also think I might be missing some details I was supposed to pick up on! I was also not prepared for how sad this one was. Truly beautiful yet heartbreaking! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Child death

kpmille2's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a great read, it has an amazing ending that wraps up all the questions you may have! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

Moderate: Miscarriage

jennifer_bush_73's review

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

The story is a great premise. After the death of her mother, a young woman returns to Moscow to find out who murdered her father and sister and why. Soon after her arrival, the Soviet Union dissolves. The story of her family history begins with the Russian Revolution and stretches to the fall of the Soviet Union. However, the ending is unsatisfying. It’s not clear why her sister and father were murdered. The story doesn’t feel finished.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Alcoholism, Genocide, Grief, Child death, Violence, Classism, Death of parent, Stalking, War, Pregnancy, Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder

bringmybooks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.25

 anybody else completely & totally obsessed with the Romanovs as a kid or ……

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗬𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦 ✨

This book had so much freaking potential it’s unreal … but I just honestly didn’t feel like it every found it’s footing. It felt more like it was trying to be too many things at once - historical fiction, romance, mystery, ghost story? 

There was a massive plot point that was pretty integral to the story that was … explained(??) in a way that made absolutely no sense. I really had to go back and reread multiple times to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, because it just didn’t track. 

I liked the past storyline more, and maybe if it had just been set in that era following Valentin & Tonya I could have enjoyed it a bit more. That being said, even the past timeline skirted over a lot of the Russian history that was so integral to the context of what was happening and why it all mattered. 

I dunno. I wanted it to be what it * could * have been so badly, but unfortunately it just … wasn’t. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Violence, Miscarriage, Infertility, Classism, Torture, Child death, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

vern31's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Confinement, Infidelity, Child death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Pregnancy

oceanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

With some fairytales, history, dolls, and mystery, this book has a little bit of everything. Mixed together with beautiful writing, The Last Russian Doll is a lovely read.

Rosie's mother dies, leaving her behind with questions she needs to answer to put her turbulent past to rest. Spanning from the 1910s-1990s, we follow the story of Tonya and her lineage as well as the connections to the dolls that ended up in Rosie's mother's possession. 

The several points of view threw me off at first. I would have preferred just Rosie's and Tonya's as both of their stories were incredibly intriguing. However, there was a benefit of the other perspectives as the book went on. There's a lot of action which kept the book exciting (which admittedly made it somewhat tricky to keep everything straight). I enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Animal death, Child death, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit, Sexual assault, and Miscarriage

dudette's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Pregnancy, Confinement, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, and War

Minor: Vomit