Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan

4 reviews

amyjmcd's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Minor: Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, and Car accident

leabhar_love's review

reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Domestic abuse

orlagal's review

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Grief, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Violence

kathis_wonderland's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

3.25

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan is an emotional multigenerational story. Moll runs away from her family in her early twenties and comes back five years later with a big secret. We follow different strands of the story. We experience Moll's parents grieving their vanished daughter, read about Moll's lover's point of view, how her son is experiencing early adulthood and come back to Moll and her personal story.
 
I had a hard time getting into this book. The writing style was different to those I am used to. Direct speeches were never indicated, which sometimes made it hard for me to get that there was talking. The sentences were often quite long. The book felt really slow-paced in the first part. But as soon as I got into the rhythm of the stories, reading got easier. I had troubles get into the story whenever a new POV was introduced. The last part of the book really surprised me and made me like the book. First, I was not really sure if I liked the story as the writing was not my cup of tea. But the concluding part surprised me in such a positive way. Even though this book is not my favourite and not something I would read again, I can definitely see why it is so praised! 
 
It was amazing to read about the end-of-the-20th-century Ireland. Ryan included some really interesting topics like emotions and feelings, interracial marriage and simple Irish life. I liked how Ryan talked about racism without actually using racist words. Everything was handled with care, which I enjoyed. The whole story felt quite authentic and realistic. This was very well done.
 
Even though this book is not really my cup of tea, I see why it is so loved and praised. I enjoyed the story and the ending really surprised me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racism and Sexual content