Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

16 reviews

mcft37's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

Really. Wow.

This book was simply stunning.  I adored the fantastical elements of magical realism woven throughout the story. Each character was richly developed. A beautifully written ode to love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Death, and Sexual violence

starryeyedlover's review

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Rape, Animal death, Xenophobia, Grief, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Eating disorder

ylshelflove's review

emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

"𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏?” 

I loved the fairytale-like sentences, magical realism and all the subtle motifs! Also, most of this book is set in Seattle, and her descriptions of the flora and the climate gave me such PNW heartache <333 

The infusion of magic lets Walton highlight a bunch of ideas, particularly generational trauma (religion-inspired yuckiness is a close second). I really liked how each mother’s personal history affects the way she parents, and a gold star for all the other smoothly woven-in commentary! Reading this felt a bit like watching a sim rather than immersion, and I think that was the right choice for this story. It helps to maintain that fairytale atmosphere, and it allows Walton to switch to minor characters’ POV without disrupting the flow of the story. 

However, the ending of this book was so jarring that it knocked a full star off my rating. Everything happened extremely quickly after a long and tense buildup, and I would have liked to spend a little more time in the climax/falling action before the resolution. And the last thing that Ava does, I just don’t understand what Walton is trying to say. Not even that I don’t agree with her execution or her conclusion, just pure bewilderment. 

Other things I didn’t like: -The way Walton blithely waltzes through so many things that are commonly TW’d these days. They end up feeling like shock-value additions or ‘it’s just a joke man’ caricatures, whether or not that was how they were intended. -So many books (Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Scarlet Letter, and Chocolat, namely) came to mind when reading this, and while none of them got to point where I felt like Walton was paying homage to them, it still felt a little weird to me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Religious bigotry, Blood, and Violence

bloo_0's review against another edition

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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Blood and Death of parent

midastouchchevydoor's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

never before have i read something so painfully exquisite or tragically beautiful. i never want to see this book again, it wrecked me so. this book is one that anne shirley cuthbert would never, ever, shut up about. we’re the same in that respect. now, thanks to leslye walton, there is an ache in my heart so strong idk if it’ll ever go away. i hate this book for one reason: no other story will EVER live up to the expectations “the strange and beautiful sorrows of ava lavender” has created. the bar is so high, ava herself couldn’t reach it. or can she? find out yourself. your life will remain incomplete until you’ve consumed every last word of this book. trust me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Violence

lauramcc7's review

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Child death, Rape, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

ivan_levitt's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Gore

lilifane's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

Please check trigger warnings before reading this book. 

No coherent thoughts, just tears.

I loved it so much. The beautiful writing, the magical realism, the quirky and strange characters, the small-town vibes, the multi-generation family dynamics, the heartbreak, the love, the foreboding, the perseverance, the hope. 

But it was hard to read sometimes because of all the... sorrow and trauma and heartbreak, especially towards the end. I basically cried for the last 20% of it. But I still love this book with all my heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual violence, Death, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Sexual assault

basket_of_fruit's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

Minor: Stalking and Injury/Injury detail

uglycrow's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual assault, Rape, Blood, and Body horror