Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

La anomalía by Hervé Le Tellier

27 reviews

kyrajg's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Violence and War

whimsy_and_rigor's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Torture

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Terminal illness, Pedophilia, and Torture

Although these issues are not “minor” they do not make up huge portions of the story. Truly, only a few sentences.

pershie13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

Oh boy, how to describe the book that I just read… The Anomaly is a genre-bending, multi-perspective, multi-timeline book that will leave you with more questions than answers. It all takes place over the course of a few months, and the satire, science fiction, and dystopia all wrapped up in one brings you to the end of the book in a hurry. It’s a book about empathy, yet also a book about some of the biggest horrors of life. There’s not much more I can write about The Anomaly without spoiling it, so I’d simply suggest reading it and interpreting it as you wish. You may need to search the internet for answers once you’re done, but this book will leave you thinking about life for a long time. Oh, and that last page is a journey, to say the least!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Murder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Medical content, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Sexual content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Grief, and Religious bigotry

bookdelope1's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

There are a lot of different characters. I found it hard to remember all the details, so I had to go back to earlier chapters every now and then.
Other than that it is a great book. It is interesting how different people handle the situation. It could have gone more into depth here and there. The ending left me speechless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, and Child abuse

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, and Death

bre88's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

Incredible. A truly unique and multi layered story with diverse perspectives from a large group of characters. Somehow the writer successfully builds worlds around  characters who span the globe and brings authenticity to all of them. I can’t wait to read this one again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Confinement

Moderate: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Medical content, Gun violence, Suicide, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit

lautreamont's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Murder, Homophobia, and Self harm

Moderate: Hate crime and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content

lesenilpferd's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cancer, Pedophilia, Incest, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Terminal illness

ritavidi's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Medical content, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Hate crime

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

I thought the concept of this book was really cool - the characters are duplicated with a four month gap and have an opportunity to make different choices - but the execution didn't work for me. The setup is way too long and the book is much more about the simulation theory than any of the characters. I never felt really connected to anyone and nothing interesting happened. Also the book within a book of The Anomaly sounded terrible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Terminal illness, and Torture

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Incest, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Self harm, and Xenophobia

onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

I was given this book as a present from my sweet family who knows I adore translations, and when I first read the description, I was intrigued.  It’s set-up primarily as a mystery with elements of science-fiction and multiple dimensions. The book begins by introducing the reader to many characters; each set-up with a backstory and a common thread of a flight they took together.  As the book progresses, the mystery is laid out for the reader and the flight that connected them is the center of the story.  Without giving too much away, an unexplainable situation occurs, and it becomes a global mystery with rippling consequences.  

 

I really enjoyed the pace and the way the book was laid out in the first 2/3 of the book, and I had trouble with the meandering pace of the last 1/3.  Additionally, the way each country and each character were portrayed bordered on exaggerations, and it detracted from the story a bit.  I suspect the author was going for political and social satire and it just felt out of place in a mystery that was trying to build suspense.  I enjoyed seeing how each character handled the “event” and the variety of ways it played out in their lives - I think this was my favorite part of the book.  Overall, I liked the premise and enjoyed the thought-provoking aspects; it fell into the “selectively recommend” category for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Terminal illness