Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Overstory by Richard Powers

6 reviews

justeva's review against another edition

The prose is fantastic. I even loved the story...it was just slow. Long and slow. Beautiful, long, and slow. Like trees, I suppose.
Maybe I'll come back to it another time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Bullying

dragongirl271's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, Bullying, Sexual violence, Police brutality, War, Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

pedanther's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Terminal illness, Infertility, Police brutality, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Dementia, Misogyny, Racism, Ableism, and Bullying

Minor: Drug use, Colonisation, Vomit, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Child death

gkgkgk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

This book tore me up. It's perfect. 6 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Infidelity

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Confinement, Excrement, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Forced institutionalization

lindseyhall44's review

reflective 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

4.5

“Let me sing to you now, about how people turn into other things.”
I received a copy of The Overstory as a birthday present, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that there was widespread critical acclaim, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Never did I expect to feel, think, or see as powerfully as I did with the novel as my lense.
The Overstory follows an ensemble cast of characters, as trees shape and define their life experiences. Through themes of activism, growth, and ultimately life, the trees themselves will speak to you from the confinements of pages.
The format of the novel was immediately intriguing to me, as the parts are separated by the sections of a tree. 
 The roots and trunk may be, for some, (almost dauntingly) slow, but Powers is a master class in character studies, and the connection once finished reading will feel like  the epitome of rewarding.
Although it was one of the most heartbreaking and gut wrenching works I have read in a while, it also offered a strangely hopeful note, that like trees we too can can leave a positive legacy behind.

I took off half a star because some of the mental health depictions I thought could have been written better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Ableism, Bullying, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Kidnapping, Bullying, Grief, and Dementia

middumullu's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

I read a paper copy. It was honestly a slow start, but built up really well. The book is divided into a few different sections so I guess that's how I'll break this up. I don't remember how many there were so I can't get super specific but the beginning/middle/end had very different vibes.

Beginning - sets up each of the different characters' backstories and personalities. It's a pretty diverse cast of characters, and each of their worlds at this point feels distinct and individual and real. It was slow and calm, but I wasn't sure what direction the story was going to go because many of these parts felt like they had closure. The first section ends with an absolute BANGER.

Middle - The second section starts with an absolute BANGER as well. The way the story continued over from each section was done really well. The stories started to merge here and it was interesting to see the ways that they came together, and to try to guess where and when each of the characters and story lines would meet. The middle parts of the book pick up the pace, too. You begin to feel the urgency that characters are feeling, their sense of purpose and connection to something greater. It's inspiring and makes you want to go out and do something to help the world. 

End - This part slows down too. For me it was sad to read, about the state of the environment, the decline, where all of these characters find themselves in life. It felt a bit like crashing back to reality after some of the fantasy of the middle section. I honestly can't remember how it ended but I remember feeling like there was a lot to consider. Our relationship to the Earth, our relationship to each other, the extent of our responsibility for different parts of our life. 

I really enjoyed all of the characters and their dynamics together. I've seen some people complaining about Neelay feeling irrelevant to the plot but I liked his parts. I thought they added a different view of the world that was much needed. Patty of course was my favorite. Icon. Overall a good and thought provoking read, but on the longer and slower side.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Bullying, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Infidelity

Sorry I cannot remember it all clearly because I finished this a while ago. There was also a protest scene where characters are pepper sprayed in sensitive areas and threatened by the police but I don't know exactly how to tag that. Guerrilla environmentalist action is a major plot point within the middle of the book.