Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Death Valley by Melissa Broder

23 reviews

aletajean's review

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dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

The first half seemed like there would be something more exciting than what was given. I didn’t enjoy listening to someone complain for hours about how hard it is for her for her loved ones to be in pain. 
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localnikita's review

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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sarah_kula's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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laviederhi's review

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funny mysterious reflective slow-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

3.75

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caroisreading's review

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

4.5

This is my first Melissa Broder book, and now I'm a huge fan. I cracked up so many times during this read, and felt so much affection for this protagonist.

This is a story about staring death in the face, and the in-between space of anticipatory grief and grief grief. A scorching, unforgiving desert is the symbolic backdrop, as made obvious by the title. Our narrator is an author, who feels intimately modeled after Melissa, herself, and she is navigating her father's near-death, post-accident condition, as well as her husband's debilitating and amorphous illness. We join her as she's arriving at a Best Western in the middle of nowhere, carving out a space for her own self-pity, care and emotions, and ideally, some writing inspo. When she takes a desert hike on the recommendation of the hotel staff, it unleashes a wild fever dream, where we are trying to grasp the edges of reality and hope alongside her. 

Let me just say, the line, "Listen, Best Western cares, but not this much" made me have to put the book down and howl-laugh. 

Definitely read this book if you're exploring your own mortality, the meaning of your life, or experiencing grief, but need to laugh about it. 
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libby_l96's review

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adventurous emotional funny reflective 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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orlagal's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

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kelnicash's review

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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libraryoflanelle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Warning: you will have “Sh-Boom” stuck in your head the whole time you’re reading this book. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

If you’re looking for a deep but weird, engrossing, and quick read with perfectly short chapters (aka my favourite thing), look no further. Death Valley is the perfect book for you. Also, look at that cover, how could you not…  

This book was a fun balance between weird and reflective. There were so many great quotes that either made me giggle, pause to try to compute before giving up, or nod along in agreement.

Whilst I did expect a little more weirdness, I absolutely loved the writing style and am so excited to read more from Melissa.

This is yet another one that I went into not knowing a lot about, and I recommend the same to you. Stay safe though! Content warnings are in my StoryGraph review.
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grunbean's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I mulled this over, and I think this is one almost deserving of a five star. It’s cerebral, and can take some time to digest in parts. But I couldn’t put it down for long at all.

It’s a very reflective, and funny, story. Although I was in suspense for most of her journey! I think the prose is beautiful. I’m not sure how to describe this book in a few words. It’s different, that’s for sure.
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