Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

54 reviews

asienerbrown's review

challenging emotional informative 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Grief, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Death, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual content, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Police brutality

garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I cried so much throughout this book lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, Terminal illness, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pregnancy, Police brutality, Drug use, and Abandonment

A pet is imperilled but survives

m2b2's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was so (so) sad, but really beautiful. There were entire sections where I felt like I was gasping for air as I read because I was so pained by the story telling. As a Chicagoan, who lived in Boystown for years, I was especially enamored. I felt like some aspects (e.g., Claire joining a cult) didn’t add much to the story, but this is the best book I’ve read in a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Infidelity, Drug use, Terminal illness, Grief, Police brutality, and Drug abuse

beesteele's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Medical content, Death, and Grief

lo_vana's review

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

dearbhlanoonan's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, Death, Police brutality, Grief, Sexual content, and Homophobia

ellagrady's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Infidelity and Police brutality

naechan's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I has been two weeks since I finished this book and I still can’t stop thinking about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Death, and Grief

ariana3's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

This took me longer to read than I wanted it to, it was longer than I think it should have been. It basically describes the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the early 80s from the general viewpoint of 1 main character

(who eventually gets it from a casual fling- after being so careful with his then-longtime bf who cheated, got it, and thought he got it from him but didn't-and ultimately dies).

It alternates chapter-by-chapter with that and one of their female friends in the future in 2015.

Her brother was one of the first in this friend group to die, so she was always around these men. In the future, she's trying to find her estranged daughter and make amends. It ends a little bittersweet, as Yale (the main character) does indeed die and it describes his slow-ish decline. But Fiona (the girl) finds her daughter and they seem to slowly be repairing/building back their relationship

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Excrement, Abandonment, and Mental illness

sstarliper's review

emotional hopeful informative fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, and Sexual content