Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

129 reviews

ms_sarah621's review

dark reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

This is a quick, dark novel about a man and his son surviving the apocalypse. The conversations between the two characters are heartbreaking and interesting. It’s impossible to try and understand how to raise a child in this horrific situation. How do you explain anything? We get to see the man struggle with this, and how the boy responds to the horror he witnesses. The story is very bleak and, at times, unfocused. However, there is not much in this world to focus on except survival. The differences between the boy and the man are interesting to watch as they handle situations with different perspectives. It is thought-provoking and reads very fast. I enjoyed the experience, but a few times I was slowed down by the writing or what was happening. But, to make an entertaining book in a world where nothing happens, that’s impressive. Would recommend the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, Body horror, and Death of parent

grankottekarin's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

It's a really good book, thought provoking and written in an interesting way. It probably deserves a higher rating but, even if I appreciated it, it wasn't really my cup of tea

There were so many bad things constantly happening that you got kind of numb to it - but then again there's some meaning in that too

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Trafficking, Suicide, Murder, Grief, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Torture, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Vomit

wolfgold's review

dark emotional sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Blood

ee_comins's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Kidnapping

isthisbooktaken's review

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

I liked the writing style and found unexpected beauty (and unanticipated horror) in The Road. I’ve always heard about this book and thought I knew how it’d be before I read it. Now I feel like I’ve heard about it largely from people that hadn’t actually read it themselves. It is definitely dark and rather bleak and while it may not be for everybody, I do think it’s absolutely worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

Minor: Murder and Suicide

mizzy406's review

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Excrement, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief

rottenromance's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Slavery, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Suicide, Physical abuse, Animal death, Confinement, Body horror, Violence, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

michellewords's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense

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

4.25

"This is what the good guys do; they keep trying."
Man, this book is something else. I don't know if I can give it a proper review. 
I watched the movie a very long time ago and I remember pretty much nothing except how slow and boring it was. I found the book to be neither. 
I think most people know the plot of this book. In a post-apocalyptic world, an unnamed man and his son are on 'the road' to the ocean to find food and basic survival tools. Along the road, they encounter the results of people trying to survive, and most of them aren't great (biggest understatement of the year). 
This book is short, but man McCarthy sure knows how to punch a book up. The characters were SO well-developed. I knew exactly who the man and his son were. I knew what choices they would make and how they would survive. Their personal arcs and stories were so perfectly written. 
The prose too. OMG, McCarthy walks this fine line where it's very basic writing but throws just enough details to absolutely sell this world. 
The theme that I found the most compelling in this book was this unconscious search for light and goodness, both literally and figuratively. Even in the most obviously terrible situations, the man searched for what could help them survive and the boy searched for goodness in people. It was heartbreaking throughout the book how this search brought so much pain and darkness. It made the ending of this book so much more hopeful than I expected. 
Is it weird to say I loved this book? It's such a dark, drudge of a book-it feels weird to say that I loved it. It was a beautiful tragedy that I am unlikely to forget. 
I don't think I could recommend this book to everyone. There are far too many triggers to be found for the average person. I would recommend it for the stronger stomached and not prone to depressive reflections. It's such a good book, I wish I could recommend it to more people. 
 A note on TW: The Road is truly one giant trigger warning, specifically when it comes to violence and cannibalism. So I mean, you know what you are getting into when you read this book. It truly is a shocking read. The shock value is part of this book and I don't think the story could be told without any of the scenes. Yup, even that scene. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Grief

emmgracebuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism, Grief, Cursing, Vomit, and Child death

maulikki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

I usually like stories set in dystopian worlds, and this one definitely left me thinking. To me, the book was a good balance between light and dark, I really enjoyed all the small believable moments of love and humanity inside the new bleek world. The book rarely gave any answers, and instead presented a parent in impossible situations trying their best to protect their child. I get this is not for anyone, but just for the writing alone, I could recommend this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Slavery, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Torture, Vomit, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cannibalism, Rape, Child abuse, Excrement, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder