Reviews tagging 'War'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

154 reviews

juliatsang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment and Adult/minor relationship

doshido's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Minor: War

wytherwytch's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

Really enjoyed this book. The whole things with words disappearing was a little weird but I still really enjoyed it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Death, Dementia, War, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Alcohol

sofia_miss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Oh my god. I read this book while going through a really difficult period in my life. It will change you for the better

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, and War

cryptic_casp's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

This book might is my favorite of this year so far. It’s a wonderful story within a story within a story, all tied together by zen Buddhist beliefs and quantum mechanics, which after reading the book; zen Buddhist beliefs, quantum mechanics? same thing. The characters feel so real, and no matter whose perspective even the bird’s I felt sucked into. This story makes me feel so many things and I’ll be feeling those things for a long time to come, and thinking about this book for longer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: War

grape_jelly's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious 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: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide attempt and War

my_a's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

4.9⭐️ really beautiful writing & insightful. -.1 star as the ending felt quite bit rushed and like a scientific rational explanation that didn't fit with the ethereal and mystical vibe / magical realism of the writing and story otherwise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, War, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying

Moderate: Gun violence

gabbster's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and War

stevienielson's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexual assault, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, War, and Sexual violence

kygpub's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

i often struggle to appreciate objectively good writing, because 'good' writing often means opaque writing, and bridging the gap between words and meaning often feels like wading through mud. beautiful mud. but still mud.

this book is not like that. this is the kind of book that makes you wonder how people can even write like this. the style is really the peak of magical realism, both unbelievably creative and easily digestible prose. a lot of effort clearly went into researching and crafting it, and yet the end result feels effortlessly readable*. the characters are so well-articulated and real, which makes the magical, fairytale moments feel perfectly natural. everything feels so tangible and alive**, even in the midst of death.

*this book discusses philosophy, buddhism and QUANTUM PHYSICS. it switches between THREE LANGUAGES. so much shit happens in this book and yet i have a better memory of what happens than some of the <200 page books i've read recently.
**well, at least two of the characters are literally alive, i suppose

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Rape and Death