Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

38 reviews

wellreadandhalfdead's review

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

This is essentially a character study of the protagonist, Janina. While there is an element of murder mystery, you can not get away from the fact that this is literary fiction. If you don't like literary fiction, you will not like this! 

I found Janina charming. She's unlike any other main character I've read in books, with her very strong opinions and strict worldview. Her deep philosophical thoughts about death and who should be allowed to kill as well as the book's discussion of revenge were constantly churning in my mind as I read this. I really liked the ending and was satisfied with my reading experience as a whole.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

noahfence's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

yeah, so. prepare to enter the world of janina duszejko. like, really prepare. its not for the faint of heart.

i have never read anything quite like this book. it is a story that will question your perception of madness, animals, astrology and religion—and you will probably finish it with a very different view of the world.

the plot follows the story of the sickly, elderly woman janina duszejko and her life in a lonely polish village on the border of the czech republic. the book drags you along on her investigation into the strange, unsettling murders of several members of the town’s hunting society, filling you with intrigue, awe—and perhaps horror, depending on your attitude towards animals. do you treat them like they have souls, or not? are you willing to face their wrath?

drive your plow over the bones of the dead is everything i could ever ask for in a book. the weather is strange, the animals are vengeful, the stars are sentient. it is a beautifully dark exploration into feminism, animal rights and murder, and although at first it may just seem like the story of a lonely old women, the prose grips you by the throat and really doesn’t let you go. you will come away from the book wondering if your horoscope could show you how you will die, and if you should really continue eating meat.

drive your plow over the bones of the dead is a deliciously dark read. so go on—take the plunge. 🤭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Chronic illness, Medical content, Sexism, Cursing, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

elzbethmrgn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Alcohol, and Death

Minor: Infidelity

river69rat's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I picked this one up for the provocative title. I thought the prose of this book was beautifully written and the themes of animal rights was an interesting reflection on power and relations. Also enjoyed the discussion of ageism and sexism throughout. Lots of good things and yet I really struggled to get through this book. I'm thinking the astrology talk slowed me down and also the one dimensional side-characters, but for such a short book it felt LONG. Would still recommend but don't expect to fly through it. Testosterone Austism is an iconic chapter name...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Chronic illness

Moderate: Death

athenium's review

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, Violence, Bullying, Chronic illness, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming and Body horror

lilifane's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

SO good! 

This is a literary mystery set in a secluded village in the south of Poland. The protagonist is an older woman who is a hobby astrologer and likes animals more than humans. When people in the area turn up dead under mysterious circumstances, she has her own theory of what is going on, but no one is taking her seriously.

I actually wasn't expecting the mystery plot and was pleasantly surprised by the direction the story took. Loved the protagonist and her point of view, so interesting. Loved the quirky side characters and their friendship dynamics. Liked the themes of the book and the writing a lot. Also, the ending worked really well for me. The tone of the book is rather serious and reflective, but it has a subtle humor that I really liked.

The only thing I didn't enjoy were some of the monologues throughout the book. They were too abstract and too long for my taste. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Murder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Death

rozmaran's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

horizonous's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Great sense of place, interesting main character, but I just didn't care about the horoscope passages or William Blake's poetry and to me it was also very obvious where the story is going. However, this won't be my last book by Olga Tokarczuk.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Animal death

Moderate: Death, Medical content, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Vomit

◦ Medical content = Dentistry
◦ Mental illness = Depression
.. and some passages about insects

birtelesemann's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Animal death

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Chronic illness

Minor: Dementia

cecim17's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Murder, and Car accident