Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

A Thousand Miles to Graceland by Kristen Mei Chase

8 reviews

seventhswan's review

medium-paced

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

1.75

 

I have got to stop taking book recommendations from Ask A Manager - Alison is such a good writer that she continually succeeds in making books sound good only for me to usually find myself disappointed when I get to reading them. The writing, to start with, was weak in places, with stilted dialogue and too much "telling", but the main issue for me was that this book was trying to address extremely serious issues in the format of a lighthearted road trip novel. Trauma, terminal illness, and abuse are all discussed at length, but the writing style makes it read like a rom-com, which was jarring. At times reading this felt like reading someone's therapy notes. The premise and the characters were interesting enough, and this could have been a great story if it wasn't trying to be two conflicting things, but overall this was not what I was expecting, in a disappointing way. The epilogue exemplified this, trying to present a happy ending that, even in Fiction Logic World, was just highly unlikely in a way that felt almost disrespectful.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death and Misogyny

ljotritabaugh's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Emotional abuse

savyelizabeth's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Child death

eeemily666's review

inspiring medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism

Minor: Child death

imstephtacular's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical content, and Addiction

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Terminal illness, Grief, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Vomit, Sexism, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, War, Racial slurs, Body shaming, and Drug use

cinderellasbookshelf's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

A story featuring an Asian American mother and daughter going on a road trip to Graceland - sign me up!

The book had heavier themes than I expected going in, but I appreciated the story and its focus on Grace and her complicated relationship with her Elvis-obsessed mother, Loralynn. From an initial standpoint, the two women are vastly different and you believe that is the crux of their relationship. Loralynn is outgoing and zany, preferring to wear bouffant wigs and sequins emulating Elvis’s spirit and that era, whereas Grace prefers a safe and simpler livelihood much different than her mother’s. As the story progresses however, you begin to learn that there is a painful past that still affects both women. They each have handled it differently, but throughout this literal journey to confront their shared traumas, I found Grace’s growth into coming to terms with her childhood, and slowly learning more about her mother and accepting her as she is, raw and real. This felt like a personal story and it didn’t hold back in showing how difficult it was to heal from old wounds and the work it takes to rebuild that relationship between a daughter and her mother.

The road trip was a great setting for this story. I liked the unique places they visited as well as some of the stopovers from El Paso to Memphis. My favorite was when they got stuck in Louisiana and met a father and daughter, who were almost a reflection of Grace and Loralynn once they confronted their problems. I kind of wanted more Elvis references (as if this book didn’t have enough), but after reading, I now want to visit Tupelo and see Elvis’s house and the diner he frequented, along with Graceland, of course.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism and Death of parent

Minor: Racism and Racial slurs

sarahsthoughtsonbooks's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

Thank you to the publisher, Forever, for the gifted ARC. 

Unexpected emotional wallop. Knew it was an estranged mother-daughter road trip, but did not expect everything else.

Though they have a stained relationship, Grace reluctantly agrees to drive her mom, Loralynn, from El Paso, Texas to visit Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee for her seventieth birthday, after Grace's husband asks for a divorce. 

I knew going into the book that it was about an estranged mother-daughter relationship and their road trip. I just didn't expect the emotional wallop from the story (see content notes). 

I thought the way that Chase told the story was well done. We get flashbacks to Grace's childhood when present day events trigger the memories. That each stop and detour serves a purpose - not just because it's an Elvis related stop.

Chase also shows that the parent-child relationship is complicated. How growing up the child only sees events through one lens, but when given a chance to explain, the parent will tell you a different perspective of the same story.

In addition to Grace's relationship with Loralynn, it's a story of growth. Grace's journey - how growing up as a bi-racial child in a small Texas town with a mother that was singularly focused on Elvis and an abusive father effected her childhood, and how it relates to the choices she's made as an adult.

This book took me on an emotional journey, and I really hope to read more from the author soon.

Content Notes: physical abuse by father (flashbacks), alcoholic parent, death of sibling/child (flashback), cancer (past, and present), seizure that leads to hospitalization, divorce.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Medical content, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Grief, Car accident, Racial slurs, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

dailywaffle's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Racism, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child death and Death of parent