Reviews with content warning for Dementia - Elizabeth Is Missing

Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey

30 reviews

astoriareader's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

SYNOPSIS

Maud is elderly & has dementia, which continues to worsen over time. She forgets where she is going, where she is, whether she has eaten, and more. Her daughter, Helen, takes care of her.
Maud writes herself notes as reminders. She constantly tries to focus on whether her best friend, Elizabeth, is missing.
At times, Maud recalls her childhood, where her sister, Sukey, also disappeared in 1946.

MY THOUGHTS

So beautifully written. Very unique premise.
Loved how these stories flow together. Maud seamlessly brought back to memories of her sister’s disappearance, and the two time lines alternate in the story.
Excellent character development.
I couldn’t put it down. I was really invested in tying up all the loose ends.
Impressive execution, masterful story telling.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️very unique premise. loved the execution and character development.

Content Warnings

harper11's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

kastockton's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious sad slow-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

4.25

Content Warnings

frankieclc's review against another edition

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This book is written well enough that it was not what I wanted right now!!! Maybe one day will manage to come back to it but it was making my heart ache too much and that's saying something for me

Content Warnings

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.5

I committed the cardinal sin of watching the film before reading the book with Elizabeth is Missing. Both are beautiful, but I'm sure knowing how things ended up skewed my perspective on a lot of the story. It didn't diminish how clever the writing is, or how sensitively Maud is portrayed in the book.

The flashbacks are so vividly described, as Maud's present becomes increasingly blurry. You can see her timelines begin to merge as her disease progresses, and it's heartbreaking to feel so helpless for her. This has strong Three Things About Elsie vibes, but it feels like there less humour to be found here.

The characters and the mysteries posed throughout are utterly engaging but this really wrenches at the heart strings. There is love, and even hope, scattered throughout, but ultimately you know poor Maud is trapped.

Content Warnings

reeharp's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-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

2.5

Content Warnings

chandlery's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

veskumelooni's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

kiwialexa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

fictionvictim's review

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DNF @ 16%
Being so close to dementia. I don't take it lightly. I'm highly disappointed that this is considered "fun". Will not be reading from this author again. This book is "reliving the same day over and over to figure out the mystery BUT it's really dementia."

A gentle story about an 82-year-old woman with dementia might seem an unlikely hit, but Emma Healey’s first novel was such a success it was dubbed “Gone Gran”. A little bit funny, a little bit sad, Elizabeth Is Missing won the 2014 Costa first novel award and is being adapted for TV.
when she had the idea for Elizabeth Is Missing. Her grandmother, who was in the early stages of dementia, declared that her friend was missing; “it was all solved within a few minutes, but it highlighted her situation,” she recalls.

“So it felt right to imagine it from her point of view, in the same way as I had imagined what it would have been like for my grandmother when I was writing about dementia.”

-The Guardian, Interview Emma Healey: ‘Mills & Boon saved my life’ Lisa Allardice

You clearly have no clue what it is like.

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