Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

8 reviews

_inge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars 

This book had me hooked from the start. Alice felt incredibly real, and I had no issue envisioning her life from the first pages. I love especially how her husband is seen to try his hardest but doesn’t quite get ‘it’, which made their communication issues understandable - even though this is usually something that can really put me off in a novel. The way Alice’s mental health develops felt very real too, I’m not surprised the author consulted women with similar experiences on this as it did come across as natural. Initially she’s quite funny and seems a bit conflicted, but gradually she spirals further and further. Some segments reminded me of Mona Awad’s writing. I love magical realism, horror, and unreliable narrators, so this was perfect for me. 

The only downside to me is that the last quarter didn’t feel very necessary. The story seems to wrap up at one point, and I didn’t really need more of the plot to feel satisfied with the ending. I wouldn’t have minded an ambiguous ending, given the story as a whole could be interpreted in different ways as well. It would’ve been clear enough to feel like a fitting end. Instead, the last quarter increases the magical elements and wants to highlight generational trauma more. I actually felt less satisfied with this additional context than I would’ve felt if the book ended about 50 pages earlier. 

If you’re into some of the topics I’ve mentioned here, you’re surely going to enjoy reading this book. I’d like to read more from Native authors after reading this as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Racism

Moderate: Self harm, Child death, and Gun violence

fiaharringbook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

This book was a life-changer for me. It was like Get Out but make it Indigenous Canadian, meets Everything Everywhere All at Once or Interstellar. The scope of imagination, creativity and originality in the way this story was told was gob-smacking. My favourite book of the year so far, absolutely bloody exquisite, I cannot recommend enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Body horror, Classism, Drug abuse, Genocide, Addiction, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Gore, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs

baileyanabella's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

... just wow. I am going to be thinking about this book for a long, long time. My first completed title from the 2024 Women's prize longlist, and if the rest of them hold a candle to this one then we are in for a real treat.
Slight spoiler alert in the content warnings - but if you are sensitive to dark themes I recommend looking over them, there is a lot in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Addiction, Body horror, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Grief, Racism, Confinement, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Drug use, Child death, and Chronic illness

tenderbench's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Racism, Colonisation, Grief, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

paperbackportals's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

And Then She Fell is part psychological thriller, part sci-fi, and part scathing critique of colonialism. It’s got all the spooky vibes and deals with difficult and serious topics such as postpartum psychosis, mental health, the importance of community, racism, and generational trauma. 

This might sound like a lot, but Alicia Elliott has delved into these topics with slight of hand that takes the reader on a mind-bending adventure that intrigues and frightens while also educating you. 

I’m so captivated by her twisting and circular narrative and know that I will need to revisit this book again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Alcohol, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Drug use, Mental illness, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Genocide, Vomit, Addiction, Death of parent, Classism, and Death

Minor: Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Blood, Infidelity, Murder, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Car accident, Bullying, Self harm, Confinement, Suicide, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Police brutality, and War

Mention of MMIWG2S, residential schools.

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Thanks to Dutton Books for the free copy of this book.

 - AND THEN SHE FELL is what I might categorize as literary horror. Elliott blends a variety of types of horror - of motherhood, of racism, of literal monsters and voices in your head - into an incredible tapestry of a book.
- Much of this book is built on the tension of Alice (and the reader) trying to sort out if the things she's experiencing are real, or if she's losing her mind. But something happens in the last few chapters that takes everything to a whole new level. I was reading with my mouth open, not wanting it to end.
- The more I think on this book, the more layers I find in it. I hope you'll seek it out, even if you aren't typically a horror reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Blood, Racism, Drug abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Ableism, Alcoholism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion

our_bookish_reads's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

And Then She Fell touched on and went deep into hard topics surrounding PPD, being the birthing parent, mental illness and racism against Native persons. There are words in the Mohawk language which I didn’t know them and had to look up, which resulted in either finding the meaning or not finding anything...there's no guide in the book on what most of them mean or proper pronunciation. 
Anyways, this was a good book, I personally don't class this as Horror, but I recommend it if you want to read a psychological thriller.

Also, please make sure you read all TW/CW.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Alcohol, Violence, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Death, Child death, Cancer, and Vomit

Minor: Murder, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Rape