Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

19 reviews

lovelyoutliers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Loved this book! Such a creative book following diverse stories linked by an ancient story in the most interesting way - a young girl in Constantinople in 1411 and the boy who was part of the army camped outside of the walls, an old man staging a play with children at the local library and a young man with a plan to make the developers responsible for local habitat destruction pay, a young girl in a pod hurdling away from the doomed planet with the mission of finding a new habitable one. The twists and turns of the story are beautiful and surprising, written with such skill - profound, sweet, thoughtful, heartwrending. An immediate classic and at its core, a love letter to libraries, books, and librarians, about the ways that stories make us. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Homophobia, Grief, Murder, and Mental illness

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

I listened to this as an audiobook. It is the kind of book the I loved the more further i got in the book. it is very unique and interesting in it's structure. I would recommend to people who like historical fiction, future past and "present" masterfully intertwined. it is a nice read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Ableism, Colonisation, Misogyny, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, War, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Self harm, and Miscarriage

miller8d's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

Changed my relationship to books and reading. One of the best books I have ever read. I highlighted so many passages that the Kindle highlight collection was literally 26 pages long.

Cried several times both out of happiness and sadness. Beautifully captures the actual sensations of love and loss and grief, and the gorgeous nature of children and animals and family, queer love and neurodivergent pain, and so much more. Refreshing poetry and ridiculously beautiful world-building in such intricate historical contexts. Addressed so many different issues and experiences with such flair and emotion. Delivers anarchist / anti-establishment / leftist values from the optimistic perspective that to be human is to be a part of the problem, and yet, we must love one another and love the Earth in order to power through the pain of life in order to radically experience the love, because that’s why we are here.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Racism, Physical abuse, Genocide, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Homophobia, Sexism, Abandonment, War, Slavery, Gun violence, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Child death, Child abuse, Suicide, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Racial slurs, Bullying, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, and Animal cruelty

I am very sensitive and I LOVED this book and found it deeply emotionally uplifting despite these very severe content warnings

clairew97's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Bullying, Medical content, Pregnancy, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Blood, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

lauramcc7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Suicide

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

 Really, truly, spectacular. This is such a beautiful interwoven story spun across multiple lifetimes. It was delightful to see how each life connected with the other. Each character feels tangible and real, they all have so much depth and personality. Each plot-line is gripping and it is impossible to not feel for the characters. Seymour especially, I think, is beautifully written. His mental illness is incredibly accurately done, and he is never once demonized for it. Each character, despite their actions, kind or otherwise, is written and treated with respect and empathy. It's such a beautiful tale of humanity and kindness and struggle, and all of it is portrayed with such well researched nuance and intelligence. Definitely one of the best books if you want to feel something that is neither fully happy nor sad, but a cathartic combination of both. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Violence, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Death of parent, War, Gun violence, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, Pedophilia, Classism, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Slavery, Alcohol, Dementia, Drug use, and Excrement

betsygrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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

5.0

I see why this won awards! It was a little slow for me at first but once the action picked up, I was hooked! I could never have imagined these stories intertwining the way that they did. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Hate crime, Medical content, Gun violence, and War

katymat18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a tough one for me to review. I think the plot and the overall story is beautiful but I did struggle my way to the end. I think I may need to re-read this one sometime in the future to form a better opinion. Overall a masterpiece in story-telling, and showing the intricacies of how one story/myth can change over time. And a pattern I’m noticing with Doerr is everything and everyone is connected, even if it doesn’t appear that way at first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Gun violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Death and Murder

bethanysbookthoughts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, and Genocide

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Bullying, Violence, War, and Animal death

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Murder and Schizophrenia/Psychosis