Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Overstory

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Overstory by Richard Powers

71 reviews

mavemarie's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
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

3.75

I had hoped to be moved by this book as a whole, but only found that magic in (albeit many) disjointed parts. This book is written for a timeline that is not for humans, and I don't think that's a fault, but ultimately left me floating and wanting for something I didn't receive. There is magic here. True and moving content, but not on the same level as Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass.

I didn't feel like any of the eight(??) storylines ended in a remotely satisfying way, but that they could have and should have.

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sophcarter19's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? No

4.75

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vampireph4ze's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

i think that i was meant to read this book exactly when i did and exactly as i did. it felt like it clicked into place every time i picked it up, whether or not i decided to plow through 100 pages at a time or read a couple every now and then. it contains a world i have only recently started to appreciate, and as i delved deeper i only wanted to become a part of that world more and more; The Overstory taught me that i already am.

it is a wonderful epic spanning generations, spanning a multitude of people, all who discover - either early or late in life - that trees are nothing short of all-powerful entities that cover the earth. almost every time i read it something brought tears to my eyes, an overwhelming sensation that this book held answers to questions i never even dreamed of, that even in the midst of all this chaos brought on by human greed, the earth will inevitably reclaim it all.

by all means, The Overstory is not a perfect book, but it made me feel something unlike anything i've ever felt before, something akin to what i believe is a spiritual awakening. i felt shivers run down my spine as a i read words that told me of our history, of humans' tiny little split-second mark on the universe, of the life within trees and the miracles that they perform that may not be miracles to them anymore. it changed me, made me feel like the thing i did not know i was searching for has been right in front of me the entire time. the two silver maples in front of my childhood home, the giant sycamore in the neighbor's backyard, the willow tree down the road, the Southern magnolia across the street, the pine tree in front of my sophomore college dorm, the first chestnut i ever saw, a thousand miles across the sea. there is every reason to give up hope, to argue that anything we do will have no impact on the future, to fall victim to nihilism and dread - but there is also every reason to keep on living, to wake up every day with the thought that things can and will improve, to look at everything around us and fall in love with every person, plant, animal, everything built by our hands and everything built by the earth's, and choose to do something that may only ever be remembered by the ground we stand on.

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parsnipnectar's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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josiemeyer's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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taural41's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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nhelregel's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Such a wide, sweeping novel about people, trees, and the interactions between the two. I've been waiting on the e-audiobook to be available through libraries for *years* and it did not disappoint. Super long, but it never dragged and each of the characters fit into the narrative well. I'll definitely be ruminating on it for a while. Overall: very interesting, thought-provoking, and definitely sad (but also somewhat hopeful).

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