Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

18 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

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

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

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

kirahaycock21's review

emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.75

I didn’t like the way it ended (though it was appropriate for the genre). I would’ve liked to hear more about Ennis and the other friends she made on the fishing boat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Self harm, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Terminal illness, Vomit, Alcohol, Sexual content, Rape, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, and Sexual assault

singout's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring tense fast-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

5.0

I found this compelling: I narrative sit in the near future, where many species have gone extinct, and the main character is trying to follow the migration of terns from Greenland to Antarctica. She makes her way onto a fishing ship filled with diverse and complicated characters, and many conflicts and wounds emerge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Animal death, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

pikkumarja's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

Viimeinen muuttolintu on surullinen kirja seikkailusta, menetyksestä, ekokatastrofista, rakkaudesta, ystävyydestä ja tietenkin lapintiiroista. Kirjassa on niin sanottu "found family" -piirre, jota rakastan kirjoissa. Tarina sijoittuu lähitulevaisuuteen ja on toiveikas dystopia. Viimeinen muuttolintu on monisyinen kertomus ja ruumiinavaus siihen, mitä on elää ja rakastaa.

Ainoa syy, joka jättää kirjan viiden tähden alapuolelle, on lopun kiirehdintä ja muutama epäjohdonmukaisuus.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcohol and Violence

mwhite0226's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Car accident, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Death, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Blood