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thebooknookreviews's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Death and Confinement
zoeelora's review
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Grief, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Death, and Mental illness
vvabecca's review
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Dysphoria, Grief, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Chronic illness, Confinement, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, and Murder
dragon_lord's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Grief
Moderate: Confinement and Child death
Minor: Animal death
theaceofpages's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
I was rather bored for the first third or so. Nothing really happened? It also annoyed me that Wallace, this supposedly cruel man, suddenly did a complete 180 in terms of personality. While big events can definitely change a person, this didn't exactly feel natural. Then we reach the more interesting part of the book. We have gotten to know the characters a bit better and we see how the tea house functions. And then we get to the end. Which, again, I did not like all that much. It felt a bit forced and heavy handed, but I can also tell why people would enjoy it.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Cancer, Child death, Death of parent, and Animal death
kathleenivy's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Abandonment, Child death, Sexual content, Confinement, Death of parent, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment
vaguely_pink's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Child death, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, Car accident, Confinement, Cancer, Cursing, Medical content, and Terminal illness
annorabrady's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Finishing this book was hard because I both wanted to know how it ended and loathed the idea of it being over. I appreciate the twists in the story and how earned they felt. They didn't exist for cleverness or because of lazy writing, they existed because the characters made decisions that warranted them.
The cast of characters was truly wonderful. Their antics and their support of each other are equally valuable. The questions they pose and the answes they offer are healing. And even the minor characters have a presence many main characters in other books never reach.
I will say that there are some hard storylines for those who have experienced different kinds of trauma. But as someone who's lost family and friends to similar circumstances, I value the care given to these stories. And, as someone who lost their mom just over 6 months ago, I will say that this isn't something that's too heavy. At least it wasn't for me.
Moderate: Animal death, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, Gaslighting, Child death, Confinement, Death, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders
tiernanhunter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Minor: Drug use, Animal death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Violence
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What happens when an utter jerk falls down dead and nobody cares? It sounds like the setup for an off-colour joke but that is the basic premise of this book. This is a redemption story that I haven't seen the like of since, The Good Place. It's not quite as funny, but definitely moving in places.
This story had me in tears from about chapter 17. In some ways I felt a bit like I was being played. There were corny asides and comedic beats (because who doesn't love an irreverent ghost dog that ghost-pees on oblivious mean people)
interwoven with the hard sob-stories, passionate regrets, rage, and loss, and failure, and grief. It felt like these hard emotions were all pulled out into the light like boxes of old photos long hidden under the bed. *cough*crying? not me.. NO... just allergic to uhm, dust *sniffle*
The characters in the story are of diverse ethnicity, and that's a Thing.. it does affect their lives, but is not the hook of who they are, so I think that was quite considerately managed. They are also of diverse ages, and that makes things a little more interesting. There is a definite LGBT thing that, from looking at comments from other readers, is not picked up by many readers until later in the plot. Although it's cute (and Narrator, Kirt Graves, makes the tea-shop owner, Hugo sound like a Black Keanu Reeves) it feels like some of the character development and friendship-building is a little hurried along. I felt like the man we meet at the start of the book is unredeemable, and yet Klune metaphorically scales a seemingly insurmountable wall, attempting to do just that. This is a story that tells of a world where God, as humans conceive of it, is not an accurate depiction of how the universe runs, but there are "powers that be".
This story has an author's content warning on the start of the book. It does deal with death, and suicide, and a bunch of really hard topics. That makes it feel like a bit of a therapy piece (the line "you're not my Therapist!" comes up a few times). It's a fun book if you feel like you can wade into some really emotional topics, and have a spare box of tissues handy.
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Suicide, Cancer, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Confinement
Minor: Cannibalism, Infidelity, and Sexual content