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Reviews tagging 'Stalking'
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
12 reviews
queen_persephone's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Rape, and Stalking
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
"πΎππ ππ ππππππ πππππ ππ πππππππππ?β
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 motherβs 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 charactersβ 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 donβt understand what Walton is trying to say. Not even that I donβt agree with her execution or her conclusion, just pure bewilderment.
Other things I didnβt like: -The way Walton blithely waltzes through so many things that are commonly TWβd these days. They end up feeling like shock-value additions or βitβs just a joke manβ 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Religious bigotry, Blood, and Violence
_adk_'s review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
Beautifully written but incredibly dark. I foresaw what was coming a long way away and dreaded every page turn leading up to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
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
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
debz57a52's review against another edition
4.5
This book fell on my radar almost a decade ago because of the Goodreads nomination, so I'm glad I finally got around to it. The story of Ava Lavender is quite a tale, mesmerizing and sad but joyful and lovely too. What really makes this book, though, is the story of the women (and some men) who came before her; knowing their stories and how they feed into Ava's experiences is what gives this story the depth that enchants readers like me. The magical realism is pretty special, too, though. There were a few slow-ish parts, which I mostly skimmed through, but this is such an enjoyable book that I never once thought the skimming was good. I was just an impatient reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Animal death, Sexual violence, Gun violence, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Mental illness, Homophobia, Death of parent, Violence, Confinement, Infidelity, and Stalking
lovelymisanthrope's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I buddy read this with a friend, and she adores this book. I was really excited to see why she loved it so much, but I, unfortunately, am still left wondering why anyone enjoys this novel.
This novel follows Ava Lavender, and the entirety of her family, as they try to live in their small town while they are also ostracized from their community. Ava was born with beautiful wings. She has been taunted, harassed, and entirely misunderstood her entire life. Ava just wants to be like all of the other girls, but on her quest for acceptance, she almost loses herself entirely.
I have researched, watched live shows, and had a thorough one-on-one discussion so I could try to articulate why I did not enjoy this book, but I am still left at a loss for words. I did read "The Astonishing Color of After" not too long before this, so maybe I just had my fill of magical realism? One of my biggest gripes with this story is that it is entitled "The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender", but we do not meet Ava Lavender until almost halfway through this book. The book tries to encompass the Lavender's entire family, and the story is told through an array of perspectives. I understand and appreciate that to understand Ava Lavender's story, we need to understand where she came from, but I ultimately felt like there were too many perspectives and not enough from Ava to warrant that she is the title of the book. I do not mind multiple points of view, but this book was overkill. Additionally, there is a very explicit rape scene in this book, but I did not see anyone mention this as a content warning. On a poetic level, I see what this scene brought to the story, but I do not think we needed such explicit and lengthy details about it.
Overall, this story was a letdown, but I would give Leslye Walton another chance in the future.
This novel follows Ava Lavender, and the entirety of her family, as they try to live in their small town while they are also ostracized from their community. Ava was born with beautiful wings. She has been taunted, harassed, and entirely misunderstood her entire life. Ava just wants to be like all of the other girls, but on her quest for acceptance, she almost loses herself entirely.
I have researched, watched live shows, and had a thorough one-on-one discussion so I could try to articulate why I did not enjoy this book, but I am still left at a loss for words. I did read "The Astonishing Color of After" not too long before this, so maybe I just had my fill of magical realism? One of my biggest gripes with this story is that it is entitled "The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender", but we do not meet Ava Lavender until almost halfway through this book. The book tries to encompass the Lavender's entire family, and the story is told through an array of perspectives. I understand and appreciate that to understand Ava Lavender's story, we need to understand where she came from, but I ultimately felt like there were too many perspectives and not enough from Ava to warrant that she is the title of the book. I do not mind multiple points of view, but this book was overkill. Additionally, there is a very explicit rape scene in this book, but I did not see anyone mention this as a content warning. On a poetic level, I see what this scene brought to the story, but I do not think we needed such explicit and lengthy details about it.
Overall, this story was a letdown, but I would give Leslye Walton another chance in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Stalking
zimmerlemon's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Very reminiscent of the Practical Magic series to me. Honestly had suchhhh a slow start but it won me over in the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Grief, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
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.
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
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
swaggynikki's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Fucking BANGER of a book, it's incredible and haunting and weird and everything I love in a story. I read this book for the first time in middle school off of a booktube reccomendation and I was definitely not ready for it (I think I was 13 at the time?). It's graphic and parts of it are very disturbing, but that doesn't take away from a beautiful story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Homophobia and Hate crime