Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Beneath the Stars by Emily McIntire

12 reviews

sarah_emmer's review

emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment and Drug use

Minor: Car accident and Infertility

danniella_may's review

funny sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Having really enjoyed other Emily McIntire books I thought this was going to be another enjoyable one.

The timeline jumps quite a bit in the first part of the book which made it difficult to hold my attention. The second part of the book just grated on me. There is so much focus on Chase's flaws and we never touch on Alina's, especially not her ability to project her insecurities on to others or her inability to have a conversation which could ultimately stop her deciding she knows everything without all the facts. Nevermind she gets uppity about people bot twlling her stuff yet the issue is she's so wrapped up in her own world she doesn't actually even really take time to find out what's going on with anyone else.

I found it quite hard getting through the pace of this book, it really dragged for me. I don't find myself in a rush to read the rest of the series but may get to it one day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, and Car accident

Moderate: Infertility and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

kyriannaj's review

dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Great first book of the year to read. At first I was frustrated having to read 100+ pages of the main characters and how their relationship developed over childhood. But after finishing? It's amazing. You really see the development, especially of Chase. Sometimes it can be hard to do a grovelling/apology/second chance and make it feel like the person has genuinely changed, but seeing the past transform into the present makes it clear as day that Chase had put in the work. Seeing the roles change between Chase and Alina from childhood to adulthood was incredibly sweet, watching them both take care of one another through their dark times. The way they support, love, and let each other grow is amazing and I feel it's rare to find books that do it so well. I also adore how the ending isn't 100% happy. Yes, the couple ends up together and gets their happily ever after, but everything in life isn't fixed. Relationships are still damaged, people are still growing and learning, and change takes time. But it ends with hope that these characters will be okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Mental illness, Cursing, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity

rnewk's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Addiction, and Death of parent

jengua1's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Abandonment, and Death of parent

chelsearose's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent

eternalreverie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Violence

bookish_oyster's review

emotional lighthearted fast-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

2.0

I knew what I was getting into when I started out this book and I didn't have extremely high expectations from it. I like that the book deals a lot with the issue of substance abuse and how it affects family of the abuse. However, the story lacked good descriptions. For example, at one point the male protagonist talks about the female protagonist staring at him with "sad eyes" which is a classic case of tell-not-show. The entire book follows a similar pattern. Also, while the concept was good, it felt bland and under-edited, much like any average roughly-written Wattpad story.

The buildup to the breakup during the first half of the book was well-written but after that, the author discounted a lot on their reconciliation

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use

hunnykurls's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction and Death of parent

kassah14's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Amazing tears will be shed heart wrenching emotional roller coaster!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Drug abuse