Reviews tagging 'Grief'

How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang

18 reviews

mighty_lizard_queen's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

A cross of As I Lay Dying and Grapes of Wrath

The book is very good for the first part, but once the father is buried I think it lost its way a little bit. I suppose the father was supposed to be redeemed but I didn't buy it. The ending was also unsatisfying and felt disconnected to the earlier parts of the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Deadnaming, Grief, Trafficking, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Bullying, Blood, Outing, Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Sexism, Racism, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death of parent, Classism, Physical abuse, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Gun violence

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Violence, Colonisation, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Excrement, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit, and Rape

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Violence, Racial slurs, Bullying, Abandonment, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Sexism, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Sexual content and Transphobia

brynpemery's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Grief, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, and Abandonment

ash_ton's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.5

read this for LGBTQ+ book club :) it was pretty good! i'm longing for more from the ending though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Death, Hate crime, Addiction, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcoholism, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Child abuse, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, and Physical abuse

Minor: Bullying, Animal death, Child death, Vomit, and Animal cruelty

miscarriage is a stillborn baby

kananineko's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Dysphoria, Grief, Trafficking, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, and Outing

jialianyang's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

A moving, gritty odyssey of two Chinese American children during the gold rush era. They reflect on the question of 'what is home' as they fight in different ways for survival after their parent's death/ losses in a hostile society where everyone wants riches and will do violence to secure it. This story is wild, made with flesh blood and bone, dusty, muddy and captivating as gold and flowers in the hills of California. It is poetry in story, a confessional, an obituary, a wish, a dream. Read only if you are prepared to be haunted by truths and lies, ghosts, gender, beasts human and animal, fear and desire, hope and hopelessness. Nothing is clean in this book, yet there is beauty.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Death, Eating disorder, Blood, Excrement, Racism, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Gun violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

lorenag5's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Grief

kaneebli's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

very depressing and upsetting historical fiction western that almost ends with a bittersweet, hopeful ending

but at the last second, Lucy decides to sell herself into sexual slavery in order to pay off some wealth-hoarding bastards that Sam stole gold from. and then when she finally gets out of the forced prostitution (after an indeterminate amount of time) Lucy decides to not follow Sam across the ocean after all. and I guess she just stays in the California desert with no friends or family.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Colonisation, Grief, Sexism, Death, Animal cruelty, Violence, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Child death, Animal death, Trafficking, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Minor: Emotional abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Genocide

zombiezami's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

Reminds me a lot of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. It's very beautifully written. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Blood, Racial slurs, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Xenophobia, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Sexism, Grief, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Deadnaming, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Genocide, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Trafficking, Sexual content, and Cultural appropriation