Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

63 reviews

knkoch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

This is a long, epic story on the scale of some of the Dickens books I’ve read. I like that you go on quite the journey with the central set of characters, covering the full span of lives and beyond. Marian Graves is at the center, the pilot forcing the rest of the Earth to cycle around her, and she lives through many different lives.

I struggled mightily with settling into this one at the beginning, especially with the scant chapter or two about Marian and Jamie’s parents. Once I got ahold of the characters sticking around, it improved for me. In fact, the whole book felt like a gradual but continuous improvement all the way to the end. I even liked the modern perspective Hadley’s story added. Overall, it was highly worthwhile seeing this to the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

One character is in an abusive marriage, and another witnesses a brutal battle in the Pacific during WWII.

eggpilot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Alcoholism

swaanderer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Abortion, Rape, Homophobia, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexism

mariananna's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

afion's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, War, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Body horror, and Drug use

Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Biphobia

siobhan_oak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Moderate: Classism, Alcoholism, and War

Minor: Violence

uhm_kai's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

tbh i really loved this book even tho i wouldn't have picked it myself

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, War, Rape, Pregnancy, Abortion, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Hate crime, Grief, Death, and Adult/minor relationship

saltycoffee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Pedophilia, Rape, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder, Grief, and War

anapthine's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, War, Death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, and Eating disorder

Minor: Murder, Antisemitism, and Gun violence

vikkom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This piece of fiction HITS on so many levels once it's finished. Judging by my engagement at the start I was definitely not expecting how many moments throughout that I would read a sentence and just sit there and stare and ponder, or bookmark to write down once I get up after keeping on reading. 

I thought this book was going to be about this random lady Marian Graves attempting a north-south circumnavigation, and the fictional actress Hadley being fascinated and throwing herself into the history of Marian in preparation for the role. The book is about that, but I'd say that it's only about 10% that. 

The rest of the book is about Marian Graves, and the people she loved and loved her, from before birth, to death; it is about Hadley, the starlet, and her journey with the pressures of hollywood, acting, falling in lust, and being... drawn to Marian and also knowing and feeling uncomfortable with the fact that the Marian she is playing is almost entirely reconstructed. 

This book paints the sweeping arc of Marian's life, and the lives of the people that were most important to her. It deals with feeling multiple, contradictory feelings at once; it deals with estrangement from people you love; it deals with loving people and yet hating them; it deals with queer love in the 40s and 50s; it deals with the what-could-have-beens while acknowledging that sequences of events have a certain inevitability and circularity; and overall, it deals with the messy and complex and less-than-idyllic ways that humans connect. Lives are lived, opportunities are lost. People die. We go on.

N.B. one thing I would say though, is that it took me over half of the book (no small feat, it's a solid 300 pages) to actually get *into* the story. I think mainly because I wasn't expecting a grand sweeping whole-of-life tale, but the book comes around in a nice circle, once I realised that was what it was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and War

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Hate crime

Minor: Abortion and Child death