Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

23 reviews

jaysaysnope's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

this is so well-written, but i am just losing my patience with creators trying to convince us that nonviolent protest will topple violent empires. also, super weird to me that IRL, the laws and public rhetoric about indoctrinating children with harmful ideas have most recently (and aggressively) been aimed at trans people, but there’s not a single mention of queerness in this book, let alone trans identity. understanding the intersections of oppression is more important now than ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal death, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Pandemic/Epidemic

luvs2paint1928's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

jmiglus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Lucy Liu does a great job narrating!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Hate crime, Kidnapping, and Racism

Moderate: Violence and Animal death

metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Murder, Hate crime, Racism, Animal death, and Police brutality

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Violence

rinakei's review

There was a moment that was a little bit too triggering for me as an Asian-American, and I haven't been able to get back into a comfortable mindset to read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

There is a description of an (content warning: assault, racism, animal abuse/death)

Asian woman assaulted by a man on the sidewalk, who then subsequently steps on her dog, likely killing it.

I needed to stop reading the book shortly after this event occurs in the story.

alimackenzie's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.25

3/3.5 stars. I may change this as I sit with it more, but right now this is how I’m feeling. It’s unfortunate as the subject matter is so important and timely, and I LOVED her other books, but this one just felt “meh” in the end for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Kidnapping, and Hate crime

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

gondorgirl's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Confinement, Bullying, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Grief, and Hate crime

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.

emma_sky's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, Violence, and Police brutality

There is a major theme of family displacement, and children being taken from families by the government. There are a few descriptions of violence, hate crimes and sexual harassment, but it’s not overtly gory.

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