Reviews tagging 'Grief'

L'attrape-coeurs by Jerome David Salinger by J.D. Salinger, J.D. Salinger

111 reviews

princxporkchop's review against another edition

3.75

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Incredibly impressed by the skill it takes to create a first person POV with such a strong and consistent voice throughout an entire novel. I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this teenager’s melancholic ramblings, but sometimes the classics are classics for a reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual content

haleighotter's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Still a great read. Had me cracking up throughout and I even cried a little! 

10 years later and I’m still in love with book and catch something new each time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol

pony_boy's review against another edition

2.5

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Sexual harassment

thepennyyouleftbehind's review against another edition

5.0

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Man I loved it when he just *clenches fists* caught all that rye

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Suicide, Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Outing

Minor: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization

mostlykenny's review against another edition

4.75

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad fast-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

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call me crazy, you don’t get it like it get it 💔
 it’s just about a kid that’s afraid of growing up. Mourning childhood, or nostalgia, is something all of us can’t grief.
I think some of the writing is a bit repetitive and Holden goes on these very long tangents, for good reasons but it goes on for a while. But other than that it was pretty good :) !!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, War

Holden getting therapy made me happy

emiemilka's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Alcohol

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, War

yourlocalredpanda's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief

Minor: Child death, Alcohol

kimothay's review against another edition

5.0

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was my favorite book when I was in high school but I hadn’t read it in a decade, so I wanted to re-read it and see if I still enjoyed it and how my thoughts on it would change. I work in the mental health field now and the mental health themes always interested me as a teen, so it was incredibly interesting to read through that lens. Holden is a difficult character to like as he’s emotionally immature (but who wasn’t at 17?), cynical, and generally just hypocritical and whiny at times. Despite all of that, his character is still one of my favorites of any book I’ve read. The clear impact of trauma and how it shaped his worldview is intriguing, and I picked up a lot of different things that I didn’t when I first read it at 15 or 16. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Transphobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

turidt's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Classism

m_allardyce's review against another edition

1.75

funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The Catcher in the Rye is the story of Holden Caulfield’s long weekend as a truant in New York City. Along the way he meets a cast of exotic characters including prostitutes, old classmates, and regrettable flings. He’s desperate to act more mature than his age, getting drunk in bars and flirting with older women, but the veneer is thin, and money is short so he soon has to return home to his parents and younger sister. The novel handles a lot of heavy themes such as grief, sexuality, adolescence, and depression, so I can see why it has become a canonical text. 

I, unfortunately, hated it. 

Most of the praise I’ve seen for the novel talks about the authentic portrayal of teenage angst that Salinger demonstrates throughout, praising the use of simplistic and repetitive language to contrast the mature themes. There’s the sense that Holden is every disenchanted youth looking to find himself and escape the constraints of school facing the realities of life. 

Ultimately, I don’t think this is necessarily incorrect; I think my main issue with the novel is that Holden is /so/ sixteen and I am not. I think I’m too old (a morbid thought at 23) to really appreciate what the story is saying about youth and teenagerhood, and instead Holden just comes across as grating and immature. I don’t see him as an endearingly naïve protagonist growing into himself, but an insufferable child who learns little from his mistakes. The lack of overt growth by the end of the novel is a subversion of the coming-of-age genre and I feel that the story is the worse for it.    

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Grief, Alcohol