Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina

31 reviews

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0


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shelbyfkg's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? No

3.75


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sakisreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring 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

3.0

This was a Book Club read and I WISH the friend that had chosen it had given me some warnings šŸ˜« Iā€™m going to include content warnings below, so you donā€™t have to feel the way I did or read it if you donā€™t want to!

This book is about the Bell Gardia phone box in Otsuchi. Obviously itā€™s a very touching story, but tinged with grief and sadness šŸ„²

The story in itself felt a bit disconnected; we kept jumping to different peoplesā€™ perspectives and it kept hard to enjoy at times because of that. Itā€™s also why Iā€™m giving it 3 stars āœØ

However, I loved the characters! I felt attached almost right away, especially to Yui and Takeshi šŸ„¹ Hana was also a firm favourite ā¤ļø

Thank you šŸ„° 

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sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

3.5

this was an objectively good story and i think the author did a great job at portraying the complexity of grief, how it can change your life and connect people. even if you're not going through a grieving phase right now i think it will really make you sad or, at least, just feel hopeful about life. 

there's so many things i liked about this book: how the phone booth realy exists, the author's writing style, the characters, the short chapters and the super short interludes between them... and i absolutely love how despite all of their pain, the characters eventually found something worth living for that allowed them to get over a huge tragedy.

however, i felt like at some point the story got kinda overwhelming and i was 
just dragging myself to finish it, since sometimes the narration felt kinda confusing and easy to get unfocused by. 

maybe it's not a book for everyone but there's many parts that make me believe it's a worthy read. 

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blueberrypi's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

4.25

This book was a really interesting exploration of grief and healing. The second half of the book felt a bit slow but it picked up again towards the end. Overall a really enjoyable read.

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wordsofclover's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective relaxing 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

3.0

When Yui loses her mother and daughter in a terrible natural disaster that strikes Japan, she feels lost and confused. She hears about a special phone box in a country village which people use to talk to their dead loved ones, and she travels there, striking up a friendship with Takeshi who lost his wife.

This is a very quiet, sweet novel that showcases the powerful human ability of moving on despite tremendous heartbreak and continuing to find the lovely things in life. I listened to this on audiobook and it was a lovely, relaxing read. Despite the very sad moments in this when we learn about the extent of Yui's loss, as well as Takeshi's and Hannah's and numerous other characters who come in and out of the story, it remained fairly light-hearted. 

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maddiela's review against another edition

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

3.0


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beautifullytess's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0


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lainey_sherman3's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This books reminded me of the foreign film ā€œPahunaā€ or a Studio Ghibli film. Though nothing action packed happened, the flow of the book was really nice. It had a lot of deep things to say and I love all the little details she added from the Glossary of Japanese words, the preface of the language, the background of the wind phone, and the short chapters in between that gave you a glimpse to the characters. 

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mikayladlewis's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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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