Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

10 reviews

geerbeer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Het is heel queer op een superfijne manier en er is iemand met een glazen oog, maar verder is het geen heel diverse groep mensen lijkt het. Super leuke manier van schrijven en meta-dingetjes in het boek, daar houd ik van. Veel gelachen, klein beetje traantjes gelaten en vooral gewoon genoten van de cozy vibes en interesse in de 'main maar toch back-up story line' over het wrak.

Pro tip: Lees niet de Nederlandse vertaling!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse and Medical content

Minor: Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

It's obvious the author isn't '...'phobic, it's a very queer book. But there are some mentions of queer people not being accepted by others.

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

I had a totally different idea about the plot of this book. I might have mixed it up with something else and since I don't read synopses, I was really surprised what this book was actually about. And pleasantly surprised even because it has so many things I love to read about. 
A small coastal town, family history, mystery and adventure, a treasure hunt, sibling dynamics, a friends group, LGBTQIA representation. And I really really enjoyed the majority o the book. The main character went through some hard hitting things and made some questionable decisions, but I still enjoyed reading from her perspective. 
I was disappointed by the last quarter of the book, though. The plot didn't really progress, and then it was suddenly over, but the ending took half an eternity to conclude. Weird pacing and I get the focus was on some important topics, but still, the rest was just forgotten somehow. 
But yeah, still liked and enjoyed the majority and the atmosphere was perfect for a summer read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Drug use, and Homophobia

brookey8888's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

I just don’t think this book was for me. I can see why a lot of people like this and I did like the topics discussed, but that being said I didn’t love it. I thought the characters were honestly annoying and the  “quirky” style of character was too much for me. As for the romance I thought it was cute, but I honestly didn’t like how they tried their friend(also violet totally had feeling for him, but that just disappeared). I also wish that we got to see more of Sam and violet and their relationship develop and grow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Outing, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Suicide attempt

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

The writing in this was beautiful, and I love the bi/pan rep! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Biphobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Homophobia, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child death, Outing, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Drowning

lipstickitotheman's review

adventurous emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Death, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Adult/minor relationship

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

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

4.25

This was a really good contemporary YA book and a really bizarre take on Twelfth Night. I’ll start with the first bit.

The Last True Poets of the Sea is a book about grief. It’s about history. It’s about trauma. It’s about how people carry those things with them from generation to generation. It has some beautifully complicated and at times tragic sibling relationships. It has a teen sapphic romance that feels realistic for the characters and where they are in their lives.

It also has most of the things that one might expect from a Twelfth Night retelling: A love triangle, a shipwreck, a character named Toby, twins…

But all of those parts of the story are remixed to a degree that didn’t really make sense to me. The shipwreck and the twins (and the gender stuff) are in the past. The love triangle is completely different because Violet falls for Liv first and Orion is for some reason straight. Toby is Violet’s uncle rather than Liv’s. Most of the subplots are cut completely, which makes sense but was still sad (well, I didn’t really miss Malvolio, but I wanted a proper Sir Andrew character, goddammit!). 

The book still works despite these changes to the source material, and they were obviously make deliberately. They just bugged me as a fan of the original play who enjoys seeing new takes on it.

I also have a couple little nitpicks:

Liv refers to herself and Violet as anagrams. This makes sense thematically, but the names Violet and Olivia are NOT anagrams. This was very confusing because the author could have actually given them names that used all of the same letters!

Also, this is a very white book. It makes sense because it’s set in small-town Maine—maybe the whitest part of the US—but why was Violet always remarking on the fact that random side characters were white people when she and all the other characters were also white people? Very odd.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Homophobia

averyrembish's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Medical content, Outing, and Cursing

Minor: Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Homophobia, Blood, Car accident, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Vomit

books_and_mags's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Child death

kayles514's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Child death, Death, and Sexual assault

for_esme_with_love's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

My teenage self feels incredibly seen by the protagonist, Violet, who is one of the most richly crafted characters I have read in YA fiction! A former child actor who is reeling from a traumatic family event, Violet is used to coping with her anxiety through alcohol and sex. But this summer she is rocking a freshly shaved head and is determined to turn over a new leaf, throwing herself instead into investigating a shipwreck that may hold a secret about her family's past. The real intrigue of this book is the depth of the supporting characters, all deeply lovable as well as flawed, who embrace Violet with open arms to help her solve the mystery. The love interest is beautifully rendered as a full, imperfect human, and even though the romance is a more minor plot it is no less satisfying. Also bonus points for depicting a character responding very reasonably to romantic rejection, which is rare to see, and queer story without a focus on coming out! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Bullying and Child death

A suicide attempt of a family member is a primary aspect of the plot (not depicted). One of the characters lost a sibling when they were younger and discusses this loss. There is also a scene where the main character goes out with an older man who may not realize she is underage. She is ok, but the scene is uncomfortable.