Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

142 reviews

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-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

5.0

This beautiful and sad odyssey of one woman's journey as she follows the last migration of the Arctic Turns in a world facing the disastrous effects of climate change and greed is a must read. Franny is a bird lover but, birds are basically extinct due to global warming and the government's lack of concern with hunting and overfishing. She is on a mission to follow the last of the Arctic Terns, a bird that migrates from pole to pole. She joins a ragtag crew on their fishing boat with promises of a catch they have long searched for. As Franny and the crew journey with the birds, the reader journeys through Frannys childhood, her married life, and what led her to hop on a boat and follow the terns. This novel is a beautifully written picture of the risks of global warming framing one of the most gut wrenching side romances i've ever read. Franny is a complicated and fearless free spirit who works to fulfill her dreams at any cost. She's strong, determined, a tad delusional, and a fantastic character. Niall, her husband, is a dreamboat. No spoilers obviously, but that man is a catch and almost every time he spoke I was practically swooning! In addition, all of the side characters are amazingly complex as well! Even Nialls mom, who has like maybe two chapters? From Ennis, the gambling captain to Lèa the French engineer, the entire crew has a complicated backstory, development, and dialogue. Its amazing that this whole book is less than 300 pages. It packs a punch! I wish I could read this again for the first time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Terminal illness, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Vomit, Body horror, and Violence

daisymoffit's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

This book is difficult for me to categorize as something that I enjoyed reading or not- because it simultaneously is so so beautifully and skillfully written; but at the same time it is the Epitome of a "Feel-Bad" book. Insanely impressive writing skills- McConaghy is so skilled in choosing words and creating imagery that makes you feel as if you understand and have felt yourself the scenes and emotions she describes. This definitely though is a book that I wouldn't suggest picking up if you're depressed- it put me in a weird pessimist mood the entire time I was reading it. But as I write that- I also almost want to say that that's a good thing? She definitely makes you feel things, let's just say that. Besides the paradox of appreciating Migrations for being well written, and yet also making me feel worse after finishing it; I would like to say that my main other facet to review would be the nature of the setting. Being set in a not so distant future where humans have overfished and hunted the world into mass extinction was such a scarily probable setting for this book- and I enjoyed reading about that kind of "dystopia", for lack of a better word. Interesting premise. Overall a good book, just very depressing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Murder

lauramcc7's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Death, Suicide, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Mental illness, and Death of parent

clairebartholomew549's review

medium-paced

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

4.0

I have sort of confusing feelings about this book. I waffled between giving it three or four stars, but the last third of the book really hit hard for me, so I landed on four stars. This is a pretty brutal story, involving a character who has suffered immeasurably and dissociates quite frequently, leaving you with a disorienting feeling and not knowing quite what is going on. That's presumably meant to mirror Franny's confusing relationship with reality, which ends up feeling pretty profound by the end. This is a really sad story about climate change (you can't think too hard about the worldbuilding because it really doesn't make much sense) and about a person who wants to die but wants to die free. I didn't love this one as much as Once There Were Wolves, but I do find McConaghy's insights about life really moving.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Alcohol, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Blood, Abandonment, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Confinement, and Grief

bugle's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood, Animal death, and Murder

Minor: Miscarriage and Sexual assault

ashaberstroh's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

vanesst's review

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Alcohol, Animal death, Car accident, Grief, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit and Sexual assault

thatsssorachael's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Mental illness, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Alcohol, and Child death

mirandalikesbooks's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

The topic of climate change and the fact that we as a species are irrevocably harming the earth and other species is something that already feeds my existential dread. So this book was a tough read for me. 

That being said I found myself rooting for Franny even with all her self destructive behavior. The impulse to be wildly free and to ignore problems and to grapple with internal guilt are all very relatable feelings for me.

In some ways I feel like this book was speaking directly to me. 

I'd recommend it if you like a book with a journey and a slew of complicated characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Animal death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Death of parent

allytheadventurer's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide