Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

16 reviews

jackbifrost's review

hopeful mysterious relaxing sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Infidelity, Dementia, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Terminal illness, Abortion, and Rape

Minor: War and Death of parent

laurennicole98's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Confinement

Minor: Cancer, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, and Mental illness

skudiklier's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

I'm worried I'm too emotionally invested at the moment to be writing this review; I don't know how to write about how this book made me feel without writing about the ending. I'll spoiler warning it at the end here, but just know that all spoilers in it are very vague.

Overall I liked this book. I knew absolutely nothing about it going in--not the premise, not the genre, nothing. I picked it solely based on the cover. Throughout the first half of it I just felt a sort of rising tension, as I waited for the shoe to drop. This book was well-written and while the ending devastated me, I don't think it should have been changed. 

This book makes me want to read more by this author, because I really liked how well it showed tiny social things that feel hard to capture/explain but can make a real impact on how a situation feels or a relationship progresses. Small things that Jean worries over momentarily, that just felt really well-done. 

Honestly the ending just is so sad. I wasn't prepared. I wish I'd paid more attention to the dates so that I could have seen it coming. It makes sense as a story but I'm just too close to these characters right now, I feel too sad for them. It made it so I couldn't give this book five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Dementia, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Lesbophobia, Cancer, and Incest

train accident

teaselkie's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Abortion, Infertility, and Rape

Minor: Death of parent, Body shaming, Sexism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

steamybob's review

emotional lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Pregnancy

biareads100's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I'm so mad at this book. I hate it and love it at the same time. First of all the experience of reading this book was painful, the predictable plot, the pace how dark it was. But if you asked me to talk about this book now that I finished it i could talk for hours. I love the way it presented all the issues it raised. It truly made me think. Life comes with good things and bad things and we are here for the ride.

it talks about being a spinster, having the perfect societal life that you hate vs not having the perfect societal life and hating your life, having to take care of your parents more than they did of you( and the mother the real villain of the story egoism, being lonely yet never being free, being loved but never being able to love back, amazing amazing. We need to talk about the ending. Based on the dark ending of the miracle birth we can assume Howard's story took the darkest route. They did leave the Gretchen story open ended, as that guy was never sure to be the father so Howard could be injured or one of the survivers but again the book doesn't shy away from pain. Still i would've hoped after such a biter sweet book not to get the literal worst ending. Also nice nod to the fact he felt old like it's a bad thing when some people arent blessed to get to that age.

i can talk volumes about this book but the ending and the pacing would make me not recommend it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Chronic illness, Confinement, Car accident, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Dementia

Minor: Rape

rosalynemily's review

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

I would be giving this book 5 stars, no question if it wasn't for <the ending, which I found unnecessarily heartbreaking! The book was perfectly finished without this heartbreaking final event, and it just seemed to be unnecessary upset for the reader to endure!> 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Rape, Abortion, Cancer, Medical content, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

alisonannk's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Abandonment, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Abortion, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Dementia, Outing, and Toxic relationship

bibliothecolle's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Abortion

Minor: Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, and Dementia

aimss99's review

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.25

The story is… fine. The ending is… not fine. It is trying to be something it isn’t. I was ready for a pay off to the slow burn but was left confused and dissatisfied 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Abandonment, Dementia, and Mental illness