Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu

13 reviews

kbhenrickson's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death and Racism

Minor: Death of parent

kristenjiannotti's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.5

Very interesting story and concept. We're following Firuzeh and her family as they escape from Afghanistan and will do anything to keep from going back. Suffering heartache, strife, poverty, and loss, the family goes through it all. I find the genres that the book has been placed in troubling - as the only 'fantasy' aspect is that Firuzeh speaks with

her dead friend

. That was it.. so anybody seeking this out for it's fantasy aspects or anybody staying away from this because of it's fantasy notation are both missing out. Mislabeled at best. However, I really enjoyed the family story - even with it's vague ending!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse

moriahleigh's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Racism, Suicide attempt, Deportation, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Child death, Suicide, and Racial slurs

christynhoover's review

dark hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

laurareads87's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.0

On Fragile Waves follows the lives of an Afghan family -- two parents and their two children -- as they journey from Afghanistan to Australia and find that the country is not welcoming and peaceful in the ways that they'd hoped or expected.  From a precarious boat ride to immigration detention to sexual and racist harassment to the threat of deportation, the novel focuses on the precarity experienced by one family seeking safety and is not an easy read.  I will say that I question the shelving of this book as 'fantasy,' and based on some of the reviews I expected a much more experimentally written book than I actually got.  An infuriating and heartbreaking read; this doesn't read like a debut novel -- definitely recommend.

 gender-based violence / intimate partner violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, War, Child death, Death of parent, Suicide, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Islamophobia, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Domestic abuse

tree_branch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, War, and Racism

Minor: Domestic abuse and Cursing

xiang_lin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

5.0

The uses short stories powerfully to capture the views of numerous characters that come and go through the life of our main protagonist. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Death of parent, and Child death

anxiousnachos's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

A must read for Australians or anyone wanting to know more about the Australian refugee situation. This is a very lyrical, very confronting look at the situation through the eyes of a young child as she and her family escape the war in Afghanistan and journey to Australia via Nauru. The innocence of the voice contrasted to the really shocking horrors faced in such a powerful way. There’s also a touch of magical realism weaved through, with this person Firuzeh imagines back from the dead to “eat her nightmares” as a way of dealing with her fear which I loved the imagery of. 

Content warnings: war, refugee camp, refugees attempt to reach Australia via boat (note:

a child dies in this section of the plot)

, racism, Islamophobia, military/police brutality, child death, suicide, domestic violence, death (of child; of parent)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and War

mandkips's review

challenging emotional sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism

Moderate: Self harm, Death of parent, and Suicide

Minor: Death and Suicide attempt

5aru's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Grief, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent