Reviews tagging 'Death'

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke

12 reviews

cheye13's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

I really appreciated the narrative here, particularly with the research, but it felt like so much dimension was missing. We cover the generic American male and female, but never branch out into other spheres of loneliness – lgbtq, bipoc, children, prisoners. Arguably, that was not what the book was attempting to do, given the structure of the project, but it is what the synopsis implied. Ultimately, this book simply whet my appetite for a more comprehensive, traditionally written study of the topic.

All that being said, this is a very effective and evocative project. It's exceptionally well-researched and structured well. While there is no offered solution past the examination and acceptance of the phenomenon of American loneliness, it does reach out a hand to hold. This book ultimately validates a lot of emotions stemming from isolation and offers: we are not alone in our loneliness. It's not much, but we've gotta start somewhere.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Mass/school shootings

Minor: Death and Grief

no graphic imagery is shown, but there are brief but graphic descriptions of animal abuse in a research context.

kyriannaj's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

2.75

This book felt like the beginning part of a journey, not the whole journey. There's little hope or encouraging parts to hold on to in all the lonely darkness this book deals with. It's clearly an incredibly well researched piece, but with how heavy and dark the content can become, I wish more research was done to show us how to reconnect among this loneliness. Many times I felt it was building to something, or there was the start of a beautiful concept, only to be abruptly cut off and the topic changed leaving the book feeling disjointed. While this isn't the fault of the author's, due to it being written pre-COVID there is no mention of it other than the beginning author's note. Which left the whole book feeling very 'small scale' compared to what the world had just experienced.
The last 100 pages or so were incredibly difficult to read, especially with imagery. It's about Harry Harlow's monkey experiments, which I struggle to understand why they were necessary to include in the first place, at such a graphic level.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Medical content

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Cancer, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Abortion

the non-graphic summary of the study is that Harry Harlow was researching isolation, what it does to those isolated, how those isolated react upon joining a group, and how that group reacts. However as it went on he became more and more sadistic and abusive towards the monkeys. And around 100 pages are spent on this, in detail, with an attempt to humanize and explain what he did

greywolfheir's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Rape

lowbrowhighart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Big trigger warning for animal cruelty/torture! Part of the book details Harry Harlow's experiments with Rhesus monkeys. Wish I would've known that before reading!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Torture, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, Hate crime, Death, and Cancer

otherwisepassenger's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death

ka_cam's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

3.75

The graphic novel format makes this book go fast, and I think I’d have found it more engaging if I were 1. more actively lonely right now and 2. Less generally familiar with the history/physiology research (so it would be new). At time moving meditation on loneliness but at other times the transitions between personal narrative and research/history felt choppy. Would recommend for anyone interested in loneliness though, since it is so quick to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Animal death, Abandonment, and Alcoholism

Minor: Death, Dementia, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, and Cancer

jayisreading's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

3.5

This was an interesting graphic novel to read, and I really enjoyed the simple (yet not) illustrations that accompanied a reflection on loneliness in the United States (and I think the emphasis on this being very culturally specific to the country is important here). I’m not sure why, but it never occurred to me that technological advancements and their influences on communication could be so impactful in (re)defining loneliness, so it was cool to see Radtke explore that.

While I did learn a fair bit, I did find that things got repetitive at times. Considering this, I thought the graphic novel could have been a little shorter. I also think it would have been really interesting if Radtke did a deeper exploration on loneliness during the pandemic a bit more, instead of just touching on it.

I wouldn’t say it was a revolutionary read, but it certainly was a contemplative one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Mass/school shootings and Cancer

sallysimply's review against another edition

5.0

This is super insightful and informative, and the art is beautiful. It gave me a lot to think about and a list of topics to keep exploring.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Cancer

sfbookgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

This non-fiction graphic novel illustrates the aspects of loneliness in America using science and sociology to explain why we gravitate towards each other. My favorite aspects of the graphic novel are the illustrations - Kristen Radtke does a fantastic job incorporating text in her sometimes busy, and sometimes simple, graphics. Radtke also uses her own experiences to demonstrate what loneliness means to her. Her reflections resonated with me and while some of the scientific elements went over my head, I appreciate Radtke taking the time to perform ample research on loneliness in America.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death, Cancer, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

anniefwrites's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

It's hard to describe this book; it's not a solutions-based book by any means, but more of an exploration of a topic that weaves together the author's own experience and more scientific and historical data. Radtke does a great job of making every word count while balancing the text with provocative and beautiful images. I do think that her points got a little muddled at times, but in general I felt very seen by this book and would definitely pick up another book by her in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Grief, and Abandonment