Reviews with content warning for Grief - Joan Is Okay

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

leahegood's review

reflective sad 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? It's complicated

2.0

Summary
Joan is a doctor.
Joan is the accidental second child of emotionally distant immegrant parents who moved back to China as soon as she started college.
Joan's home is the hospital ... until her father dies and the hospital tells her she hasn't taken enough time to grieve.

My Thoughts
The positives. This was a unique book, and I appreciated the opportunity it lent to look at life through someone else's eyes. There was a certain, soulful quality to the narration despite it being difficult to follow at times.

The negatives. There was no real plot and the book was ... well, unique (see above). Unique down to the choice to skip quotation marks for dialogue. The narrator is so disconnected from her own emotions that it is hard, as the reader, to fully understand or immerse into book.

Content
No romantic, violent, or religious content. There is infrequent swearing, almost all of which is f-bombs.

Content Warnings

rubbercitykitten's review against another edition

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funny reflective

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

Content Warnings

tarajoy90's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

bookishcori's review

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funny reflective medium-paced

3.5

Content Warnings

lindsayerin's review

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challenging funny 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? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

shivapriya's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

caseythereader's review

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

rachreads925's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

4.75

This is a study of a character who doesn't quite fit in socially, is blunt, focused, and definitely quirky. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she becomes a doctor and is an attendant in the ICU at a hospital in New York City as the book opens in late 2019. The story isn't quite linear, with memories of her childhood and younger years popping up throughout. The book unfolds as Joan deals with grief, her shifting family dynamics, feeling stuck between two cultures, and the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic. The writing is fantastic, as well as provocative and not even that long which is nice. Days later, I'm still thinking of Joan and this book. I don't normally love character driven stories, but this one is a definite exception. I highly recommend it, especially the audio version - the narrator was just the right match for this book. Thank you to Random House for the advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Content Warnings