Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

A Very Typical Family by Sierra Godfrey

5 reviews

scarlett_f's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Blood

skyba3's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Addiction, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Drug use

Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Death, and Cancer

the_true_monroe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

This was a very fast paced book focused largely on healing and moving forward on an individual level (from the perspective of the narrator) and on a family level. I enjoyed it a lot with my favorite character being the cat.

There was one prevalent issue that has my rating at a 4 star and it is something that I noticed originally from another review when I was earlier in the book- but it would have become apparent on my own. Over 15 years ago Natalie’s siblings Lynn and Jake were sentenced to jail time as a result of illicit drug use which resulted in the death of their close friend. Natalie had been the person who called the cops both out of anger but also since Lynn really did hurt herself. The friend took his own life after realizing the cops were called.

Below this point has some minor spoilers.

Natalie is blamed for ALL of it. Even her mom does  not talk to her for those 15 years, and her mom’s death is what leads to the premise of the book as she wants to bring the three siblings back together. Those sympathetic to her mention it having been an “honest mistake”. Everything is about forgiving Natalie, not addressing that even though she “rat” them out that she did not set them up for anything- they were adults who honestly had Natalie in a dangerous situation. Lynn and Jake later react incredulously when Natalie did not call the cops during a time when it was absolutely critical to, due to all of that trauma of last time she called. 

While that did bother me, I really enjoyed the combination of drama, romance, nerdiness and a bit of mystery. It was a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Stalking, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Excrement, Addiction, Blood, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Confinement and Terminal illness

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.25

I picked up this one as a Big Library Read book. Libby sets things up so there are unlimited library eCopies of the book to download digitally (including Audiobook versions). Looking at the cover I presumed it might be pretty corny, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I was surprised to find myself as the target audience. The main character is a woman who has been settling for much of her life and has never chased up on her passion projects. She has allowed her partner to belittle her efforts and has fallen into a rut where it is normal for him to be the controlling partner in her life. When 2 life changing influences coincidentally shake her life up, she is given the headspace to reassess what she is doing with her life.

The main character is someone who is interested in drawing biological specimens. I vibed with her whole habit of finding cool minibeasts or bits of broken animal and wanting to keep records of them. FOR SCIENCE! I deeply identified with the feeling of having others disgusted by the objects of your fascination, wanting to get pictures of dead birds' feet, and also the problem of having baby mantises accidentally hatch in your bedroom.. or.. all over your bedroom.

This is also a story of family reconciliation. Getting an estranged family back together again as part of a family bequest makes this an inheritance story with some cool twists. It's got a lot more trauma than I was expecting. The sister is a kick-ass goth who is a trained mortician. I think I can see a theme in the way this family works.

Didn't really expect it to be so focused on romance though. I found the development of friendships and relationships in the story so captivating that I forgot to stop the book.. and then found I had oopsed a 1-day-read. Uhm.. yes I quite liked this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Drug use, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Minor: Vomit

trademark's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Gore, Vomit, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Terminal illness