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prettycloud's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Violence, Blood, Grief, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, Cursing, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Sexual violence
Minor: Ableism, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Classism, Gun violence, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt
This book has a lot of heavy content but it does not stay in its dark parts long and its overall tone is hopeful. It never lingers on lurid details, and the narrators tend to talk around what's happening/has happened. Both the mother and son are traumatized and both have traumatic interactions with institutions of the state, and shegreenwillow77's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia, Animal death, Violence, and Drug abuse
maviemerveilleuse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Animal death
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
teresareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Car accident and Self harm
Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Bullying, and Animal death
odyssia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Police brutality, and Self harm
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Physical abuse
stellarya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction and Animal death
Minor: Sexual assault
orianaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Grief
Moderate: Ableism and Fatphobia
Minor: Cursing, Police brutality, Violence, and Animal death
carabones's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
rorikae's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Life was going smoothly for Annabelle and Benny before an accident kills Kenji, Annabelle’s husband and Benny’s father. After Kenji’s death, their lives begin to unravel as they find their own unique ways to cope with their grief. Annabelle throws herself into her job and in the process begins to hoard more and more items as an archive. Benny begins to hear the voices of items talking to him. Their experiences and search for meaning within their grief begin to split mother and son apart at a time when they are in desperate need of each other’s support.
Ozeki portrays an affecting if long winded look at grief. We follow along with Annabelle and Benny’s life and though I did come to care for the characters, I found myself ultimately frustrated by the length of this book. At 560 pages, this book is already on the longer side and the mediation on grief and the self-destructive behaviors each character undertakes as they deal with their loss made it feel all the longer.
The character’s do go through arcs but it is relatively slow and feels like regression for 75% of the book. At about halfway through the story, I was quite bored and this continued for a good portion of the second half of the novel before a relatively quick resolution in the last 10% or so.
I do appreciate how Ozeki discuses books and stories, especially as one of the characters in the story is the book being told. The interesting format, which stiches together normal narration with Benny’s perspective, snippets from a book that Annabelle is reading, and additional perspectives from characters as they come into the main characters' lives, did work and made my interest extend further than it would have otherwise.
I think part of my frustration with this book is that I am not a literary fiction person. I enjoyed one of Ozeki’s previous books but that was in a book club setting where I was able to dissect more of the prose and delve into the themes. Read on its own, literary fiction, especially that about people dealing with grief or existential anguish almost always disappoints and frustrates me. If you are someone who enjoys reading these mediations on grief and existential woe, especially in a mostly contemporary setting than you may greatly enjoy ‘The Book of Form and Emptiness.’ I did come to care for the characters and their struggle though it felt like there was more book than we needed to get there.
Graphic: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, and Self harm
Moderate: Animal death
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's nearly 600 pages and it covers so many themes, including grief, mental health, capitalism, art and books. I couldn't really see where it was heading and while there were parts I found more compelling than others, I was intrigued the whole way through.
Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Death, and Self harm
Minor: Sexual assault