Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

17 reviews

mangofraiche's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Infidelity, Dementia, and Death

paperquilt's review against another edition

fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Dementia, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Infidelity

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Grief, and Death

Minor: Drug use and Dementia

norygraph's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I found the relationship between the Aria and Steph SUPER annoying, especially towards the end. Big side eye to both of them.  I did appreciate the Joan of it all. I liked Last night at the Telegraph Club a lot more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Dementia

Minor: Sexual assault

novella42's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

3.75

I know part of my frustration with this book is that I didn't notice it's not a romance novel, like Last Night at the Telegraph Club. I went into it expecting something else, and so I spent a lot of time angry and confused, and didn't see what it was trying to do until the very end. 

There were some beautiful lines. I think I most appreciated her relationship with her grandmother, a wonderful character who definitely stole the show for me. 

I may try to revise this review after I get some distance from it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dementia, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

jayburding's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Dementia, Death, and Medical content

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

Aria spends the summer before starting college discovering who she really is and who she wants to be. 

I was so excited for this book. I read Last Night at the Telegraph Club earlier this year and was absolutely blown away by Lo’s writing, the history, and the characters she created. As a companion novel to Telegraph, I expected the same magical experience with A Scatter of Light. Sadly, I didn’t feel it. 

The two main characters, Aria & Steph, felt so overly dramatic - especially considering they are older than the characters in Telegraph. I physically cringed multiple times at some of the things they said/ did. I didn’t find either of them very likable, and I couldn’t root for them. 

Part of what made Telegraph so magical was the history. A Scatter of Light is also set in the past, but a much more recent past - 2013, right when Prop 8 was overturned, making gay marriage legal in California. This is mentioned a few times in the book, but I wish more attention had been given to everything going on at the time, rather than focusing so heavily (almost entirely) on the “relationship” between Aria and Steph. 

There is also one scene in which Steph implies that she is struggling with her gender, but it is completely brushed over and never explored. It felt like a last-minute throw in for some additional diversity as there was no other trans/non-binary/gender queer rep in the book. 

The best part of the book was the (very brief) glimpse we get into the lives of Lily and Kath (the main characters from Telegraph) in 2013. No spoilers, but I was glad to see where they had ended up, nearly 60 years later. 

Maybe my expectations were too high, but overall I was just really disappointed with this book. Telegraph has a permanent home on my shelves, but A Scatter of Light is probably going to be one of those getting unhauled at the end of the year. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Biphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, Sexual content, Grief, Infidelity, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

I thought I knew what kind of book this was. Then the last few chapters punched me in the feels. A much less predictable book than I expected, which I love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Infidelity

Moderate: Racism, Classism, Body shaming, Sexual content, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Homophobia, and Death

emfass's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, and Bullying

Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Medical content, Dementia, Death of parent, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny

Before the beginning of the book (thought she recounts it in detail), main character has topless photos taken of her without her consent, and the boy who took them puts them online and everyone she knows sees them. Her mother also shames her for this.

marigoldgem's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

* CONTAINS SPOILERS * 
I love the way Malinda Lo writes even though it started off VERY slow for me, the way it’s written just keeps me interested. Though I will say the age gap and the cheating made me super uncomfortable. Especially the way they used Joan’s hospital visit for their alone time. Or using her grandma’s memorial as her “last card”.  Just didn’t sit well with me.  Also it felt like there was a lot going on but it never going anywhere. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dementia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment