Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Pine by Francine Toon

13 reviews

liltakeawaygirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Grief, and Bullying

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Alcoholism

elysianbud's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

I tried reading this ages ago and DNF'd it. Picked it up again and gave it another chance and actually really enjoyed myself. Creepy and mysterious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Grief, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Bullying, Blood, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, and Animal death

a_violentfemme's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I wanted so much to love this book and the premise sounded just my thing but it feel a bit flat for me overall. I enjoyed the supernatural elements but felt the thriller aspect was rushed and not as well fleshed out as other parts of the story 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Murder, Alcoholism, Bullying, Addiction, and Alcohol

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Murder, Kidnapping, Vomit, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Pine is brilliantly atmospheric, quietly building tension and mystery with its beautiful descriptions of a wild, untamed landscape and the wild characters within. I liked the Scottish idioms; they felt authentic without being hard to understand and it anchored the book in its location.

The story was actually quite slow, but it still drew me in completely. I couldn't put it down, but for long stretches there's also a sense that not much is happening. That combined with some heavy emotional background for the characters gave the whole book a quiet sense of dread. I was tense pretty much from the start.

The end felt a little abrupt, though it did fit with the tone of the book. Perhaps I was hoping for more resolution to help lift the tension I'd been feeling. But still this is a great thriller that packs a really emotional punch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Death of parent

odrib's review

dark mysterious sad slow-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: Bullying, Addiction, Animal death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

_egg_wash's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, and Addiction

Minor: Confinement, Blood, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Vomit, and Cursing

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

3.0

Honestly, I felt this book was a little flat. I was really looking forward to this and in the end it didn't do much for me. I felt like all the interesting things were happening without the main characters ever actually being all that involved. There was a lot of scope to make this a chilling supernatural thriller but it didn't quite get there. 

<Spoiler> I also found the part where a teenager calls a ten year old a lesbian as an insulating hugely off putting. I know it's not uncommon for that to happen but it felt so out of place and made me quite uncomfortable. </Spoiler>

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Animal death, Alcohol, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

whatindiaread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, and Death of parent

my_plant_library's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Bullying

Moderate: Grief, Animal death, Murder, and Kidnapping