Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Elveszett madarak by Simon Jimenez

13 reviews

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

I liked this book a lot, but I do wish that I had read it before The Spear Cuts Through Water since that book refined a lot of the interesting touches in this one and took them farther, with more confidence. I liked the characters and the overall plot, but the big time skips made a lot of it feel sort of distant and I found the third section a bit silly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Torture, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, and Colonisation

Minor: Suicide, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

metanav's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.5

patience is necessary—i nearly dnf this book but i persevered and it paid off. i didn’t start to enjoy it until the story leaves the first planet, but the imagery and characters were beautiful and the sci-fi world building felt familiar but also fresh. pacing is slow at times but it gives you time to really get to know the characters and it definitely made me emotional near the end

just keep in mind content warnings, i added what i could remember but it probably isn’t all exhaustive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

bangarangbec's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

4.25

Beautiful sci-fi narrative. This cast was endearing and following them through these many, many years was so worth it. I would've read twice as many words about them and all the things they did and all the ways they grew together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content

zsabella's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

I think 2024 is the year I fully realize that I’m deeply fond of speculative, character-driven science fiction. I loved how the vanished birds gives off a distinct feeling of negative space and technological minimalism that doesn’t distract from the characters’ interactions. it’s frankly impossible not to immediately buy into every relationship nia has ever formed. simon jimenez writes natural dialogue so easily it feels like reading a transcript of *real people* conversing, arguing, courting, etc. but not at the cost of world building—he can easily evoke beautifully sparse images of futuristic cities, natural environments, and different planets within the universe he’s imagined.

I do think the third act could’ve been a bit tidier and had a less abrupt transition, but it’s a small nitpick in the grand scheme of a heartwrenching story. at its core this is a found family, coming of age cosmic drama that reflects on the figurative and literal power of human connections and what ordinary, but conflicted, people are willing to do to preserve them.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

ostenreal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

letsgoevie's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, and Torture

deereadstoo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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? No

5.0

I always think about the friends that I made in my adult life when I think about found family. Surprisingly enough, I don't read about found family often but it will always have a special place in my heart because it's truly a gift to be able to grow a family outside of the one that courses through your veins. I believe that's why The Vanished Birds by Simon Jiminez struck a chord with me like no other. 

I was going into this story thinking it was going to be your normal science fiction read. There would be some action, some strife, some evil, and some triumphs. However, that seems rudimentary compared to what I read in this book. 

This story follows Nia Imani, a captain in Allied Space, who is just going through the motions of life. Until she meets a young boy with a broken past. Unbeknownst to her, this boy will be the start of her life. A life that would be filled with loss, pain, love, and hope. However, this story doesn't start with her nor does it just focus on her. There are so many characters sewn into her and the boy's story that they all become somewhat of an amalgamation of each other. You even get to know these characters on an individual level that packs such a potent punch, that you start to feel as though you're in the story with them. You begin to feel their every emotion as though it's your own. Jimenez unfolded such a powerful story about family and loss within these characters that I'd be doing this book a disservice if I rated it anything other than 5 stars. He put purpose behind every word in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

quinnjuliac's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was incredible. Sweeping story of finding nonbiological family and the ties that bind us, in a dysphoric future where the earth has been obliterated by climate change and misuse, and other worlds are created and then colonized by capitalism. Really beautiful, highly recommend. The first half seems to be more about the dysphoric world created by the author and traveling through it, and the second half is really about relationships and the love we find and lose, and how worth it these losses are.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Colonisation

malhale's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt