Reviews tagging 'Death'

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

30 reviews

jennipea382's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Hate crime

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Violence, Death, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

axel_p's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

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

3.0

This should be an A24 movie

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Classism, Violence, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Racism, Racial slurs, War, Confinement, and Panic attacks/disorders

adragoninspace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, Death, Racism, Bullying, Police brutality, and Racial slurs

bookswithisabel's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad

4.5

*4.5 stars
Ugh I just love Celeste Ng, this was so good but heartbreaking, as all of her books are. No spoilers, but as an aspiring librarian/archivist the role that librarians and libraries played in this story made me so emotional. 🤍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Kidnapping, and Hate crime

Moderate: Police brutality, Abandonment, and Death

Minor: Racial slurs and Panic attacks/disorders

teeclecticreads's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I can admit that this is the second best book I’ve ever read. No joke. Celeste Ng is such a talented writer. I love how she always uses these young main characters who make such a huge difference as they find their own way. Bird’s curiosity, determination and wonder was nicely balanced with his naivety and ignorance of the world. And Sadie! Ugh that firecracker. She was a delight to read about.

In terms of the plot, she captured xenophobia, racism and animal abuse in a way that was still hard to read, hurtful but tasteful enough to not be stomach-curdling. It’s so sad that this was a word of fiction but still spoke to a very-present American reality. Having to deny who you are and the people you love because of their cultural background sucks.

The pacing was perfect. Things didn’t happen too quickly but it also wasn’t too slow. We got the right amount of context to figure out what was happening and what would happen. First Bird’s past, then Margaret’s, and those both helped form the future details. I still can’t believe that cliffhanger though! It was so sad 😭 I wish we could know what happens after.

I read the physical book along with the audiobook and it really enhanced the experience. Celeste and Lucy Liu did a great job bringing the story to auditory life. The ooooooonly little qualm I had was the fact that there were no quotation marks or chapter labels. Otherwise, absolutely a 5 star read and and eye-opener.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Death and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

It sheds a light on the removal and replacement of children from their families which can be a sensitive topic for some.

daydreamdarling's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Blood, Classism, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, and Vomit

alisonvh's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

My favorite book by Celeste Ng so far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Death, and Racism

machenn's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, and Death

kappafrog's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

How eerie reading this in between seeing headlines about book bans in Florida. This was a compelling dystopian novel. I agree with other reviewers that the second half struggled at times compared to the first half.

The conceit of Margaret narrating her whole life to Bird didn't always work when she was going into intimate details which were great for the reader but made less sense as dialogue with her son. I was also disappointed in the lack of information about the aftermath of Margaret's plan. We got a few flashforward glimpses but no information on the political fallout.

The writing was really beautiful. I liked seeing the world through Bird's eyes, a child's perspective in a novel aimed at adults. I enjoyed the use of folktales, etymology, and gardening through out. There were many horrifying bits in the book. I can tell it will stay with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Blood, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, and Deportation

Minor: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Medical content, Rape, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Islamophobia, and Slavery

katrinky's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

not an easy book to read. imagine the handmaid's tale, but about anti-asian racism and xenophobia. the book touches on linguistics, guerilla art, including yarn bombs, and folklore, so of course I was compelled from start to finish. read it in 1.5 days, both of them work days, so that tells you something about the pace and the ease with which I got invested in bird, his mom, margaret, and their lives under PACT ACT America. chilling, maybe hopeful? mostly wary, and clear-eyed about America's worst propensities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Colonisation, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Grief, Racism, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Hate crime

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Abandonment