Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Overstory by Richard Powers

22 reviews

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

loveisabird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

beautifully written and absolutely makes me want to cry about trees and the planet a lot. and makes me wish i was brave enough to dedicate my life to saving them. 

but, i don’t really love where the all the characters ended up by the conclusion. not saying they all should have gotten unambiguously happy endings, but some more narratively satisfying endings for more of them would have been nice. not really sure what i’m supposed to take away from all of these specific peoples’ struggles, i guess!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Police brutality

beanypole's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping

luise96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

julziez's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence, Death, Dementia, Grief, and Colonisation

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.

prettyfunctional's review

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Death of parent, Confinement, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident and Sexual content

booksandmo's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

emakay's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

elspeth56's review

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

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was a really really beautiful book, with a monumental feel to it. I wish I'd been in a better headspace to read it. I wouldn't say it was slow, but it's a heavy powerful book that interweaves many stories and requires your focus, which I don't have a lot of right now!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Ableism