Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

123 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

The premise of the book is what initially drew my attention and captured my interest. As someone who was once a curious, inquisitive girl with a love of books and a large vocabulary, I fell in love with Esme and her work. (I’m now an adult with the same love of books and a hunger for information.) That being said, the book loses steam about halfway through, which is why it took me a while to finish it. Nothing was happening, narratively or emotionally, with the characters, so I lost interest. The final third of the novel truly drags, and the author seems to have lost steam because

she pretty much kills everyone off and makes a sixty year time jump with little context

. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not a strongly written one either. I would suggest that you only read as far as page 247 (the chapter titled December 1912). It drops off after that.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Classism, Medical content, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Abortion, and Sexism

Minor: Car accident

vbsauce's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Truly beautiful and informative. Knocking off .25 stars because there were some threads of the narrative that felt a bit tacked on, from which I would have appreciated greater continuity. For example, I kept forgetting about

the protagonist's daughter because we would only be reminded of her every few chapters.

By contrast, in The Book Eaters, a book that felt very similar to this one thematically, you never forgot

that the protagonist had a daughter who was taken away from her.

It was a big, emotional plot point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Grief, War, Death, Gore, Police brutality, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Medical content, and Confinement

Minor: Slavery, Abortion, Child death, Infertility, Mental illness, Colonisation, and Rape

em_hudson03101's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, and War

jocelynzoe's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol, War, Grief, and Sexism

bogwalker's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

A word nerd’s dream 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, and Death of parent

emilyslater's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abortion, War, Violence, Death, Grief, Hate crime, and Sexism

maijaka's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

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

3.75

At times I enjoyed the slow pace, and other times I felt rather stuck. At the same time, the vast time span of the book meant that significant events were covered very briefly, leaving me wanting more. Also, I found myself wishing the main character would take charge of far more and I felt at times feeling as if she was rather passive. All that being said, I felt the prose was absolutely beautiful and enjoyed most all of the characters.

One quote that stuck with me:

“Was I better? Before Shropshire I’d felt broken, as though I would fall should the scaffold of my work be removed. I didn’t feel that now, but there was a fine crack through the middle of me, and I suspected it might never mend. I remembered Lizzie apologizing to Mrs. Lloyd the first time she stayed to chat, for the chip in the cup.
‘A chip doesn’t stop it from holding tea,’ Mrs. Lloyd had said.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, Grief, and Pregnancy

tiannamaher's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

This book is such a great representation of how words mean different things to everyone. I found it moved a little slow at parts but the plot overall is so good. Towards the end I felt all the emotions and the ending is beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and War

Minor: Car accident

rachjaki744's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Death of parent