Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

78 reviews

hails_reads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

This book made me truly reconsider the way I view death and the way I think about life and it’s cyclical experience. The highly intelligent (and funny) author wrote with a heartwarming and empathetic voice and I genuinely learned a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Dementia and Abandonment

asiaasiaja's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Car accident, Medical content, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Grief, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Excrement, Classism, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Vomit, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, Sexism, and Dementia

Minor: Fatphobia, Cursing, Colonisation, Body shaming, Xenophobia, and Cancer

maethereader's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

A very enlightening read! Some of the personal details, like with the love interest, seemed unnecessary and out of place, but I also understand this is a memoir if someone who is in the early 20s. I really appreciated this look inside the death industry, and I learned so much about embalming and cremation, and the history of both. I will definitely be looking into green/natural options for myself and my loved ones. Hearing the stories of death, or more like dead bodies, definitely helped me understand this topic which is so hidden in modern life. I feel so much more prepared and grateful to have read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, and Child death

Minor: Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Cancer, Car accident, and Terminal illness

___christina___'s review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Death, Excrement, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Descriptions and discussions of tough topics are written empathicly and humorously.

ssarahbbeth's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Medical content, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use, Terminal illness, Cursing, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

samlikesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Excrement, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Blood, Child death, Suicide, Grief, and Terminal illness

Minor: Drug abuse and Dementia

maddiearthur's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful inspiring reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Dementia, and Car accident

psychuhdelic's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

my absolute favorite book. the way caitlyn turns the macabre into something lighthearted and fun to read is very impressive. caitlyn's story telling ability is shown in this book in all its glory. i've read this several times throughout my life and it definitely is one of my favorites. once i start it, i don't put it down until i flip the last page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Child death

earthbound_edits's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage, Child death, and Suicide attempt

printingbetweenthepages's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

I stumbled upon this book as a recommended read from Booktube, although I can’t remember who it was that recommended it, I’m glad that they did! Morbid, but incredibly interesting and educational with a level of intrigue that made this a fast-listen (I chose the audiobook version to read). This first-hand account of experiences working in a mortuary was eye opening and done in a way that respected the dead and the processes that happen once one is deceased. Society, myself included, often skirts around the issue of death and what happens to us after death (not in a religious sense, in a physical sense). Personally, I feel that it’s the unknown that bothers us, and this book answers a lot of those unknowns. I really enjoyed learning about the historical events that took place over time that impacted how the dead where “handled” and how history and the changing beliefs over time have changed the mortuary business. Probably not the book for all, but those with a scientific background or interest in how things work, while being able to handle the subject matter, will find this book an enjoyable peek into the mysteries of death and mortuaries…and I have to say after learning about the topic it’s a lot less terrifying! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Chronic illness, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief