Reviews tagging 'Death'

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

265 reviews

spicytomato's review

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

An exploration of humanity and how we respond to loss, grief and destruction on a global scale. Aspects of this book destroyed my heart with poignant stories of incredible heartache and loss. Truly devastating but I couldn’t put it down. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Death, and Suicide

st_ender's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Last part sort of let me down but it's still a hit

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Animal death, Medical content, Death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Medical trauma and Body horror

Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cancer, Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Suicide

Extensive discussion of euthanasia, and anything that can possibly happen to a person once they die.

traciereads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Grief, Dysphoria, Cancer, Ableism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Self harm, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abandonment

lilly_dav_reading's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic

hyuzen's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad

5.0

The quality of this book kind of crept up on me. Once it's over and you understand how things are connected it's a beautiful tapestry of vignettes featuring people living in the midst and aftermath of a devastating virus.

Filled with despair and grief in equal measure to hope and premise, this is a challenging read to start. It deals with very heavy subjects relating to death on a macro and micro scale, across all ages. Grief shatters people, shatters relationships. Sometimes the virus only accelerates issues that were under the surface before. But within all that are people seeking connection.

Across the chapters characters and objects reappear, with new perspectives giving new insight and knowledge that makes you want to go back and re-read earlier chapters to appreciate them in new ways.

As an aside, I think this book is a great example of why StoryGraph's review categories seem limiting. Trying to distill this down to whether it's character or plot focused, or whether the characters were loveable just feels like it's missing the point.

But that's beside the point. This was a remarkable read and if you can handle the darkness you'll be rewarded.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Death, and Animal death

ladyhunbun's review

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

A really interesting view of individual stories and dynamic characters. I do wish we could have spent more time with some of the characters but liked that we got almost an overhead fire of the world in the aftermath of a pandemic so like our own. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Death

darkwood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicide

heytaytay12's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Dark, disturbing, and deeply hopeful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Blood, Medical content, Suicide, Death, Child death, and Death of parent

baileyes's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.25

I can see it being a favorite book for many but it wasn’t really for me 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Suicide, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Grief, Cancer, Animal death, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, and Abandonment

the_kristin_amber's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Gorgeously dark. Haunting. 
Told in woven narratives this novel is elegant yet very dark. I couldn't put it down but wished I could.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Chronic illness, Child death, and Death