Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

96 reviews

kathleendayle's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

sundayfever's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to love this book, but it just didn't do it for me. There was no suspense or unexpected plot twist. I knew within the first few chapters what had happened, so it was just waiting for the whole rest of the book for the characters to figure it out. Love the setting in Downeast Maine & Atlantic Canada, and the characters were sweet. But not as engaging a read as I'd hoped. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Vomit

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

The story of Ruthie and Joe is so sad and so necessary. I loved the writing and the complex characters. It would be easy to be set against the kidnapping family, but even with those characters, there was complexity throughout the book. 
Ruthie's journey is hard to read, mostly because of the gaslighting that she endures. I think many things did happen to her and she didn't get to have much agency, but that felt like a big part of the point of the story in this case. 
Joe was a potentially unlikeable character who did grow for me and his story is truly heartbreaking. His emotional journey was difficult to connect to at times but there were certain moments that were so heartfelt and real for me that I couldn't help but want to just wrap him up in a blanket.
I'd love to read more of Peters' books! I simply loved her writing, at times I was so wrapped up in it that I did forget everything that was going on around me. That's a great book for me! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

laura_cat's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Lesbophobia

lahars_little_library's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Homophobia, Infertility, Racial slurs, Trafficking, Outing, and Alcohol

teachandcreate's review

challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Kidnapping

hellokriti's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

daniellewilkins's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

jesslinkletter's review

emotional sad slow-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

4.0

I did enjoy this book and felt it was deeply emotional and thought provoking regarding grief and how we deal with it in different ways. I feel like there's not a lot spelled out in this book (for example, that the sixties scoop was very real and that several children were taken from indigenous families, that the police really would not care about a missing indigenous child unfortunately, and also that June and Alice were queer), and I feel like if you missed those points you may not have enjoyed it as much. 

I do wish that this story had taken one of two other routes - either having Ruthie return to her family earlier on and show her reconnecting to her Indigenous culture, or making where she was and if she would return more of a mystery instead of revealing everything in the first few chapters. 

But overall, Amanda Peters wrote incredibly complex characters and weaved them together through such a tragic, grief stricken story. It explores family bonds as a primary theme, as well as identity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

amath's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Dementia, and Death of parent