Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal Malhotra

4 reviews

bookworm_ohsea's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

There are many beautiful sections of the book, particularly around the connections between fragrance and memory, and describing the culture and feel of communities, but the author spends far too much time drawing out depressing scenes. I had to skip through several sections when she had gone on and on about a certain death or other sad scene that didn’t move the story forward in any way, and if not for these scenes that, in my opinion, should have been cut -or at least shortened - in the editing process, my rating would have been much higher.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

gracescanlon's review

challenging emotional 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? N/A

5.0

Lovely, utterly lovely. I teared up, and sometimes cried a little, a few times while reading this. The Book of Everlasting Things is definitely the newest edition to my favorites list.

The descriptions were rich and the prose lush. It was the way the author handled and discussed complex concepts, like love and heartbreak, loss and memory, war and resilience, that earned this book a full five stars from me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, War, Grief, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Islamophobia, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Colonisation

himangi's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Violence, War, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Cancer

2treads's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Malhotra's historical novel might be long but the details that she includes and her dedication to weaving the mystery and sensuality of smell and perfumery, the art of writing and manuscript construction was appreciated.

I've seen reviews lamenting the length and the mourning of first love lost, but when I listened, I found layers of stories beneath the romance that was halted before it could fully bloom, of a country divided, senseless violence and refusal to see where we are more alike than different, of family traditions and loss, of a war that swallowed men from nations who understood nothing of why their lives were called upon to serve, of finding a different kind of love even as we long for the love that ended prematurely.

I love the depths of the scents that ran through this story, of how each character could be associated with multiple smells and how they could evoke memories of times past and the unfolding of history. Although every love story does not end in happiness, their power to endure time and space was strongly epitomized in this tale.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Violence, War, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Xenophobia