Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Death Valley by Melissa Broder

25 reviews

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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elanuruysal's review against another edition

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

4.0

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a_novel_craving's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-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

4.0

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gondorgirl's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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rosyapple's review against another edition

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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

2.0

didn't enjoy this one. if it sounds interesting i would recommend mona awad's "alls well" instead. on the other hand if you enjoyed "something new under the sun" by alexandra kleeman then you probably would like this book 
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breanneporter's review against another edition

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

3.5

I really like Melissa Broder’s voice as an author, and there was some really beautiful writing and commentary on grief in this, but it just didn’t hit for me. It follows a 41 year old author as she embarks on a trip to Death Valley in order to get inspiration for her in-process novel about a woman not unlike herself. During the journey she goes on hikes in the desert, finds and enters a magical cactus, gets lost, anthropomorphizes many many inanimate objects and animals, and confronts her grief and feelings around her father’s illness and her husband’s chronic pain.  I read on audio and while I  liked the protagonist, I found it hard to stay totally focused on the strange, meandering, half-real/half-imagined journey (without drifting back into my own thoughts). I think I may have enjoyed this more if I had read it with my eyes, and especially if I had recently processed/was processing a similar grief. Overall kind of a meh for me, though I wished I liked it more. 
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bdingz's review

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dark funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Melissa Broder really gets it.
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meemawreads's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

I'm fascinated by Melissa Broder's writing. Her memoir was one of my favorites I've read but I didn't enjoy either fiction I've picked up. This one is about a woman lost in the desert while her husband and dad are both sick, and it was just too out there for me. Readers who are excited to decipher wacky symbolism will enjoy this one. Two taters 🥔🥔/🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔
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kaseythefairy's review against another edition

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

2.75

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