Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

25 reviews

omnimalizm's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

theebster's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

Excellent all around. As always, the interconnectedness of the characters was delightful to uncover. The settings were also fantastic, I really enjoyed envisioning the moon colonies and how they changed over time. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Death

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and War

maeverose's review against another edition

4.0

This took a long time - about half the book - to grow on me. Up to that point it was very ‘meh’. But then once the stronger sci-fi elements came in I didn’t want to put it down, and the first half became more interesting in hindsight.

I don’t want to say too much, I think it’s better to go into it not knowing much. If you like sci fi stories that involve a mystery but mainly focus on characters, their relationships, and mundane aspects of people’s lives, I would recommend. I found the writing style very easy to read as well, not confusing or difficult as sci-fi books can be for me sometimes, especially with my adhd brain.

The main content warning I would give for this, in the least spoilery way possible: it involves questioning reality. I didn’t personally feel like it was done in a triggering way. It doesn’t dwell on it too much. But if that’s an especially triggering topic for you then that’s something to keep in mind. The spoiler version:

It’s a ‘life is a simulation’ situation. It’s never fully confirmed in the book that this is the case, but it’s strongly suggested.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Colonisation

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Drug use

Ptsd flashback involving dismembered bodies - not described in graphic detail. Questioning of reality:

’life is a simulation’ theory

maddie_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Found it a bit slow to get into. 
The writing and the characterization is so good that even though you're only with each of the initial characters for a short period of time (time both in terms of chapters, and time in terms of a very short period of their lives), you care for them and get a sense of who they are. Loved the writing style. Loved how everything came together at the end. 

The only thing I want from this book is more

more details about the colonies, how the time travel works, more about the time institute, more about the characters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

the emotional impact of the pandemic is discussed in detail and while it's not covid19 in the novel, the novel was written during covid19 so it's very evocative of this time period

caroisreading's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

This is a series of individual stories from different timelines that start out unrelated, but end up beautifully and neatly interwoven. The ending leaves you with that "ah ha" moment that's so satisfying. 

The build-up is slow, so don't give up on it. There are unconventional chapter setups and changes of POV that you adjust to. 

I have mixed feelings on how time travel and the future are illustrated in this story. I caught myself being too picky about realism and tiny details (like, why is there an overpopulation problem when that clearly is not where we're trending?) -- but appreciated the focus on pandemics, very clearly inspired by COVID. It's like we progress, but our nature stays the same. 

There's a moment where a character muses in front of an audience why we are so focused on pandemic literature. Our inherent narcissism is brought up, but dismissed quickly. I think that's so funny, given how this story is tied up.

You'll enjoy this if you normally like time travel / futuristic stories, pensive reads.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Alcoholism

novella42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mental illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

Minor: Suicide

jpw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Contact meets Piranesi in this fascinating puzzle box of speculative science fiction. It's a joy to watch the layers revealed as it unfolds across different eras

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: War, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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

5.0

I would give this book 10/5 if I could. It’s so beautifully written that “perfect” is the best way to describe it. This is science fiction that is so deeply based on reality that it is 100% believable. This could be our future. This might *need* to be our future. It was a little confusing at the start, because we spend only a little time with each character, but by the half way point I was enthralled. I loved how all the characters tied in together and the ending was *chef’s kiss*. 

I will definitely be reading more of Emily St John Mandel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Mental illness

sxndaze's review

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? No

4.0

It takes a little bit to get into, but it’s such an entrancing and gorgeous read. The way everything ties in together is mesmerising, and it kept me hooked. It speaks about life so beautifully as well, and it’s really a lovely read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Grief

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, War, Vomit, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Colonisation, Confinement, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexism