Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Whalefall

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

b00murded's review

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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parchementhallucinations's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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crykea's review

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challenging informative tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is the kind of book I've just finished but is not finished with me. I will be thinking if this for a long time and have already pre-ordered the paperback so that I may one day own a copy for myself

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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

3.5

How I saw it described: "Man would rather be literally swallowed by a whale than go to therapy”.

It was enjoyable for the most part, but I don’t think it was my cup of tea. I can see this really working for others; the writing was great, the descriptions vivid and visceral, the science was fascinating, and it had family drama to boot.

Whalefall is a “scientifically accurate thriller” about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by a sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out. it’s claustrophobic and horrific. But in large part it’s about the relationship between a father/son, intolerable grief, forgiveness and survival.

For me: it sucked to listen to all of the abuse that was directed specifically at Jay from his father Mitt. It was textbook narcissistic behavior of singling someone out, and the rest of his community though Mitt was the greatest. While important for both the narrative/themes and people to read about… it’s usually something I avoid because it can be triggering.

I really dislike when stories take somewhat abusive/toxic people and try to redeem them in death.

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tortle's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

cluelessavian's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

rejectscanon's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Ruined me in the best way. Got a copy from the library and regretted it exactly 43 pages in because I wanted to highlight a line, but couldn’t. Cried a lot, and would read this book again in a heartbeat. Highly recommend, but be mindful of possible triggers.

Content Warnings

sofiaaaaa's review

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adventurous challenging dark informative reflective 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? Yes

4.0

This book hooked me from the start and kept me on my toes throughout. The story itself felt like a mix of “Life of Pi”, “Castaway”, and “127 hours”. Lots more gore than I was expecting, but I felt it added to the experience of being inside the whale itself. The family dynamics were heartbreaking and Jay’s internal struggle was very raw and real. All in all there was a lot to this story that kept me coming back for more, plus the short chapters and flashbacks made it a quick read. I’m a sucker for deep-ocean stories and this transported me there, very solid read.

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