Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn

17 reviews

mgromero's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

One of the recommended books at my library and wow, so glad I picked this up.  Thin but packed full of nuance and emotions. I will definitely be purchasing and rereading this book. Half a star off only because at times it was almost too much “show, don’t tell” which made it difficult to stay in the story at times. Really hope Zin Rocklyn has given interviews on this book because I am fascinated to hear more about her mind behind the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Sexual content, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Child death, and Pregnancy

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

My rating of this book is based entirely on personal preference and not necessarily a reflection on how good or bad it is. I could see someone with different tastes than me absolutely loving this, and that’s totally cool.

This is one of those books that is purposefully unclear for the first, like, 75%, until you’re granted some grand revelation that’s supposed to make it all make sense. Except I still had more questions than answers at the end of this story, and feeling lost the entire time didn’t make for a very enjoyable reading experience for me.

The writing was beautiful and descriptive yet very cryptic in nature, which made it hard to connect with the protagonist and the story. I think I’d need to re-read this two or three times before having a clearer understanding of what’s going on. There’s definitely some allegorical meaning at play here, and if I had to guess, something to do with generational trauma.

Huge trigger warning for pregnancy and childbirth which is depicted in probably the gnarliest way I’ve ever encountered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Body horror, Grief, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Gore, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Confinement and Infertility

Minor: Excrement

vanesst's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit

rmphyllis's review

dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Sexual content, Death of parent, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

vigil's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.5

this book honestly reads as extremely uninspired and derivative. i think it is unfair to compare books and authors to each other, but once i read that rivers solomon was an inspiration to the author, it was extremely clear to me why. 

if you entered this book for the sea creature element, and you enjoyed the commentary on trauma, and all the other shit that fucked up baby started spouting towards the end, read the deep by rivers solomon, which a better take on the subjects by a mile. 

this book tried to posit itself and its character work as something it wasn’t, and this is at it’s clearest in the ending, that is meant to be a kind of reclamation of oneself and autonomy, but to the reader, evidently less concerned with symbolism than the author, it comes across as a new kind of chain. really, the prose is lovely, and the atmosphere is strong, rocklyn conveys very visceral horror and emotions through the protagonist’s experience, but there’s really nothing in this book that justifies reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pregnancy, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

bluebrooks's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

female rage, beautiful beautiful beautiful writing.... we love to see it. i will be thinking about this for a while and will probably return to write an actual review but for now i'm just gonna drop the 5 stars this little book deserves. 

(if u like this u will probably also enjoy here, the world entire !!) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Body horror, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abortion and Suicidal thoughts

rosesofthespring's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Infertility, Child death, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Miscarriage, and Abortion

This story largely revolves around a pregnancy and traumatic birth. The main character is a member of a persecuted racial and religious minority, who faces bigotry throughout.

shannananahey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infertility

cheye13's review

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Excrement

An unwanted pregnancy carried through to birth is the majority of the narrative

edunbar87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood