Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

30 reviews

bel017's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I loved the characters: such strong, amazing, but realistically drawn women.
The setting too, was so well rendered. What an awful time and place. I'm sure the beauty of the place was supposed to shine through, but the dirt and poverty and hardship, and knowing those kinds of things really happened there and still happen all over the world, and that we all benefit from the misery of others, was tough.

Several times I had to skip a page or two to avoid traumatising content

a woman being beaten, a dog being killed

But reading about the friendship and the women's determination was wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Sexism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Xenophobia, Bullying, Confinement, and Violence

Minor: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

cstein's review against another edition

adventurous informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Entertaining. Long enough to have an interesting variety of plot points and believable development of at least a few of the main characters. At the same time, leaned too heavily on Appalachian stereotypes. Part historical fiction, part multigenerational and legal drama, part romance novel, this book never seemed to make up its mind about its goals. Might have been better if Moyes chose one angle/character and stuck with it--it seemed like she drew from a few more sources of inspiration than she could fully address, given the confines of the book's length and her audience's interests. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Incest, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

linesiunderline's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-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

This is the kind of book you want to settle in with, perhaps swinging in a hammock, or curled up in a cozy spot. For me it was one of those stories where I felt quickly immersed and invested in the lives of the women at its centre. Because it really is in great part a story of female friendship and work and resilience. All of the central characters were well realized and memorable, as was the setting. The pages more or less turned themselves. My only real complaint was that the villains felt a little over the top and bordered on caricature at times. Still, the drama made for fun reading and I was a happy reader from start to finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Pregnancy, and Gun violence

thelowreylibrary's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexism and Death

book_perk's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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? No

4.5

I absolutely LOVED this historical fiction by JoJo Moyes!! The concept of traveling library is so wholesome and overall I found this to be a very cozy read. The women at the library were brave and charismatic and I found myself wishing I could be friends with them. This novel was the full package: it had mystery, romance, humor, and themes of social justice and feminism. The audiobook was absolutely fantastic, but I look forward to re-reading this as a physical copy at some point. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death

madsmcw_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense 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? Yes

4.5

There are so many things to say about this book, the first being I absolutely loved it. Having a book centered around strong women in the 1930s brought me so much joy. The group of librarians working together, accepting one another for who they are, never asking for more was so much fun to be immersed in. Their strength and bravery oozed out of the pages and I just wanted to be a part of their group.

Geoffrey Van Cleave may go down as one of my most hated characters of 2021. He is horrible to everyone around him and cares for no one but himself and it was disgusting. I enjoyed Bennet's brief moments of rebellion against his dad, and those were honestly the only things that made him a redeemable character.

I so loved that infidelity was not a part of this storyline. From the moment Fred was introduced I was concerned that was going to happen, but I ended up being so happy with how his and Alice's story came together.

I was SO not expecting the element of a murder trial here. It added another layer of depth and intrigue. I was so tense that entire section of the story and loved how it concluded. Definitely did not see that one coming.

The ending of this story felt so hopeful, and I loved how everything was tied up.

The only reason I'm taking away half a star is because of the pacing. The middle of the story felt kind of slow and disjointed but it all came together in the end very nicely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Racism

pinkberryoasis's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

neridan's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexism, Misogyny, Racism, and Alcoholism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Incest

giulia_and_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

This book, while slow at times to the point that I had to push myself to keep going, had one of the most satisfying endings of a book that I’ve picked up recently.

I thought the story itself is such an interesting one to tell and I love that it was inspired by true events (the WPA’s Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky program). I thought the main characters and supporting characters all stood out as individuals and it was easy to remember each one throughout the development of the story.

Some of the descriptions of events were hard for me to follow because it felt like there were gaps here and there, but other times I could picture exactly what the book described.

Like I said earlier, a very satisfying ending to a wonderful story filled with friendship, love, hope, and inspiration.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Animal death, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Death

Minor: Incest

readerette's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It was a little long for my taste, and didn't really grab me fully until halfway through. It is also a thorough telling of life for packhorse librarians, women in America in the early 20th century, and rural Kentuckians. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Grief, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Violence