Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Greenwood by Michael Christie

12 reviews

mirandaleighhhh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

I am impressed with the authors ability to weave together the lives of the individuals in a family over the span of so many years, it was an incredibly detailed account. The writing, especially the forest imagery, was beautiful. 
That being said…it took me a long time to get through this, and I was surprised at how little we got of Jacinda’s story, and how little we got to know about the future (but hey, maybe that’s the point?). 
I think I was a little bored reading so much about the thinkings and doings of rich men. I loved reading about Everrett though, and Temple was fantastic as well.

“though formal research has surely been done, somewhere, scientists are no longer sharing freely sharing their findings since the rise of environmental nationalism and the end of the free internet” horrifying horrifying so close to reality

“perhaps goddess, monster, mother, and guardian forged into one impossible figure”

“wood is time captured. A map. A cellular memory, a record.”

“the world has been on the brink of ending before. the dust has always been waiting to swallow us. people have always struggled and suffered. your poverty is not shameful. It is not a failure of your character. life, by its very nature, is precarious. and your struggles are never for nothing.”

“now every time the wind blows through its blossoms I see you in the shimmer…I do not want you because you are mine. I want you because I am yours”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, and Death of parent

robotfanclub's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

Such a wonderful book that takes your on a ride through time and family lineage in a way that I’ve never seen done so well. It’s a story that revels in the randomness and serendipity of life. The thematic connection to trees and nature is lovely and reflected in the writing in such a thorough, delightful way. It feels like one of those rare books that’s just perfectly realized and complete.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: War, Alcoholism, and Death

mandi_lea's review

emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, War, Addiction, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Violence, Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Drug use, Terminal illness, Blood, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

hamstringy's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

4.75

An absolute treasure of a multi-generational book. Christie does a really good job of sticking to his chosen themes, making us care about complex characters, and keeping track of a lot of details that the characters themselves mix up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Colonisation

Moderate: Classism, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

auraroraora's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual harassment and Physical abuse

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is fantastic but MAN where are the Indigenous people? The absense didn't make sense to Canadian history or climate action culture.

"Because there’s nothing like poverty to teach you just how much of a luxury integrity truly is." 

"What is nature exactly, Willow?...Is one of my reclaimed wood tables Nature? Am I nature?"

"Whenever she tells the story of the cyclone...she will puzzle over how to properly describe the sound it made as it ate through her library. She'll grapple with how one could possibly capture precisely the sound of ten thousand books drawn up into the air and scattered for hundreds of miles. And it won't be until years later--long after the Depression ends and poor people stop riding the rails...and long after she's able to again venture into that section of her field where they planted the windbreak of maples together, trees that have only thrived ever since. And long after the void he left in her life entirely heals over--only then will she arrive at a suitable answer: they sounded like birds."

"So know this: your father loved you with everything he had. He just didn't have much left."

"Time, Liam has learned, is not an arrow. Neither is it a road. It goes in no particular direction. It simply accumulates—in the body, in the world—like wood does. Layer upon layer. Light, then dark. Each one dependent upon the last. Each year impossible without the one preceding it. Each triumph and each disaster written forever in its structure. His own life, he can admit now, will never be clear, will never be unblemished, will never be reclaimed. Because it is impossible to ungrow what has already grown, to undo what is already done. Still, people trust the things he’s built, and there is something to that. It’s not enough, but it’s what he’ll take with him."

"What if a family isn't a tree at all? What if it's more like a forest? A collection of individuals, pooling their resources by intertwined roots, sheltering each other from wind and weather and drought... what are families other than fictions? Stories told about a particular cluster of people for a particular reason. And like all stories, families are not born, they're invented. Pieced together from love and lies and nothing else."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Drug use

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Medical content, Infidelity, Colonisation, Suicide, Alcohol, Misogyny, Violence, Outing, Cancer, Grief, Gun violence, Ableism, War, and Sexism

Minor: Abortion

Wrongful imprisonment

wildsage's review against another edition

emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Alcoholism

feathery's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Cancer, Bullying, Blood, Animal death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Classism, Addiction, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Gun violence, Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Outing, Infertility, Vomit, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Excrement, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Outing, Miscarriage, Rape, Murder, Abortion, and Sexual violence

oceanxbluess's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I've found so many forever favourites this year already, and my luck didn’t run out when I recently read Michael Christie’s ‘Greenwood’.

Spanning over 120 years the book is structured like the concentric growth rings of a tree and focuses on 5 of the most pivotal rings in Greenwood history - giving the term ‘family tree’ a whole new definition.

The Greenwood family, as their surname suggests, are all in some way or another connected to trees - whether that be through logging, carpentry, dendrology, tourism or activism.

We flick from 2038 where ‘The Great Withering’ - the wave of fungal blights and insect infestations caused by climate change - has wiped out almost all of the world's forests and people around the globe are dying from a new cough-inducing strain of tuberculosis caused by the increase of dust storms, all the way back to 1908 where the logging industry was just beginning to find its feet.

Trees became a luxury, only affordable for the richest members of society, with Greenwood Arboreal Cathedral open for pilgrims, celebrities & billionaires to spend some valuable time with one of the last remaining forests in the world - although most of them just want to take a selfie in the trees to post to their socials..

Christie’s writing completely blew my mind. The story is structured in such a unique & apt way, and the details are absolutely insane! It was so easy to become invested in each and every character, learning so much about each of their lives with SO MUCH DETAIL. I adored every character.

This is what I would class as a climate fiction book, but the story comes incredibly close to our reality right now (as do most in this genre). Of course many of us have been aware of the detrimental effects of climate change across the globe for a while now, and with temperatures reaching 40C for the first time in the UK this week, it is becoming harder and harder for people to deny & ignore. 

This is definitely one for fans of The Overstory. I also kept thinking of Once Upon A River whilst reading this, finding familiarities in how incredible the storytelling is.

This multigenerational, pageturner of a climate fiction book is a must-read and has definitely made it into my top 5 reads so far this year, and claimed a spot on my forever shelf.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Homophobia

matadyne's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Amazing book - even enjoyed reading the most unlikable character's chapter. Breezed through it with how much I loved it. If you're into biology and stuff, super recommend but fine if you know next to nothing like me. While I would recommend this if you enjoy a minor gay romance and blind rep, but wouldn't recommend if you're looking for a racially diverse cast.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Death of parent, Death, Classism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Minor: War