Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

7 reviews

carolined314's review

Bizarrely inhumane

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide, and Child death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Body horror, Sexism, Bullying, Body shaming, Classism, and Death

megdconway's review

medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy and Religious bigotry

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, War, and Toxic relationship

elleisntabell's review

3.75

Weird. Really weird. Well written. Not really what I was expecting. Truly just exceptionally strange, which I guess can be assumed from the title.

The synopsis does not do this book justice. A good chunk of the book, between a third of it and half of it, takes place before Ava is even born. It's not really a book about HER. It's more a book about love and intergenerational trauma but told very strangely. Also, it's quite mature in terms of topics, so definitely check out content warnings before reading if that's something you might need. It can be very creepy and unsettling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Suicide

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

kestrel's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Oof I have so many conflicted thoughts and emotions about this book.
For like 80-85% of the story I was really into it. The writing was right up my alley and the "casual insanity" (when wild things happen, but the author writes them like she speaks about the weather. I used this phrase to describe the book and never looked back) of the plot was very engaging to me.
The book is about Ava Lavender, a girl who was born with wings, but we at first go through the stories of her grandmother and mother before we reach Ava herself. So it's something like a family portrait with elements of fabulism.
Then something happened and it disturbed me a lot. 
The rest of the story, after that event, is actually fine, and it has a conclusion vague enough for readers to have different interpretations (I looked it up and I agree with the more positive and hopeful ones).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pregnancy, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Infertility

binches's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Body horror, Death, Animal death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Blood, and Hate crime

Moderate: Drug use, Pedophilia, and Stalking

Minor: Eating disorder