Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

81 reviews

marykatpat's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Death, Car accident, Suicide, Self harm, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Blood, Sexual assault, and Grief

jourdanicus's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Lovely writing, and I really enjoyed the audio. Frannie... Not the most likeable character, and such a well written example of such. I loved the way the narrative went back and forth in time, it was very smoothly and even at times poetically done. 

Climate change, extinction, suicidal ideation, loss... All very dark themes, yes, but woven together so, so well in this book, and I can forgive the darkness for its ending

on a note of hope

. I don't think the themes were handled with cynicism at all which I really appreciate. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Confinement, Grief, Animal death, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

clumsyknees's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

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

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

h_dubew's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

This book gave me so much perspective and after having finished it I feel grateful that I got to read this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Death, Grief, and Sexual violence

serena_hien's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Car accident, Blood, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pregnancy

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

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