Reviews with content warning for Death - Death and the Penguin

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

10 reviews

srm's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

What an absolutely charming and weird (and nearly impossible to describe) little book!

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entropia's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Some would say it’s slow, but personally I enjoyed the pace. I was looking for some post-Soviet Russian literature and this book delivered well. The suspense was a bit confusing at first, but I think it could be on purpose. The book reflected a lot on death. Loved the gloomy atmosphere sprinkled with some dark humour here and there. Great book for some winter reading.

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laurataylor's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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sofialeser's review against another edition

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dark funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

The rape was unecessary.

Else from that I did enjoy the book.

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ezcousins's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I absolutely loved this book! It had me on the edge of my seat, the pacing kept me interested the whole way through, most of the characters felt very real to me. My only issue is the portrayal of the only named adult female character. She was relatively two dimensional and I didn't like the way she was initially described. It felt very cliché and sexualised. Other than that though I thought the book was fantastically written and translated and the plot was very unique and refreshing. I also found the imagery vivid without being overpowering and flowery, which is fantastic but not necessary in all cases. Finally, I loved the ending. It wasn't too predictable but it also wasn't too outlandish, and it allowed room for the sequel to feel natural without leaving too much open ended.

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