Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Pisces by Melissa Broder

15 reviews

missbreathing's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Well. I was warned that this would be a weird one. Usually, I like weird. Gimme weird any day! But this might have been a bit too weird for me. I usually like to stick to full or half star ratings, but 3.75⭐️ just felt right for “The Pisces.” Some thoughts:
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“The Pisces” follows Lucy, who spends the summer in Venice Beach to recover from her recent breakup and work on her doctoral thesis. In the process, she falls in love with a merman. 
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The blend of realism and fantasy was so well done that it almost hurt my head to follow. Honestly, the merman stuff is done really really well. 
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I was definitely warned about the merman + human sex, but, oddly enough, that wasn’t what disturbed me? The sex was definitely explicit and at times uncomfortable, so do keep that in mind! But it was actually being inside the MC’s head that weirded me out. It could be very triggering, sometimes cringey, but mostly just dark and oppressive. 
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In the beginning, I thought this would be one of my favorite reads of the year. The prose is smart and funny and peppered with subtle hints of feminism. The writing is stunning! I also really liked the ending. But there was a point about halfway through where I just wanted it to end. It’s slow paced, and while I understand the stylistic choice, I think the story would have benefitted from less meandering. 
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I’m glad I read this, but I wish I had known how sad it was going to be. Please check the trigger warnings for this one, as there  are a LOT of potentially triggering things in it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Alcohol, Self harm, and Drug use

Minor: Abortion and Car accident

lipstickitotheman's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I liked the writing, but I kept falling asleep while reading. I enjoyed the first half, but kind of waited to be done with the back half. Fascinating take on mer-people--I do feel that it adds something to the genre. I just didn't particularly enjoy it.

Quotes I Liked
-"I had felt, for a long time, that if I started crying I would not stop--that if I finally ripped, there would be nothing to stop my guts from falling out." Chapter 3
-" But as soon as I saw him coming, I thought, Oh God no. He sort of looked like his picture, but more the monkey aesthetic than the hot one. Also, he had an additional werewolf essence that the photo had not captured." Chapter 13
-"Before the donuts, I didn't even know I wanted to die. Now, I attributed my crying to joy. I hadn't known that I'd wanted joy either. I had not ever known that I could have it. Now I was crying because it felt like a miracle--not only that I could want to live at all but that I actually could." Chapter 44

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Self harm

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent

recollections's review against another edition

challenging dark funny hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.5

"life was okay, though. life was maybe even kind of cute. you simply had to expect nothing from it. that’s what the stoics believed—zeno and seneca, those ancient fuckers."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Animal death

angharad's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Sexual content, Blood, Animal death, Death, Excrement, and Grief

astronut's review

challenging dark funny reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Vomit, Excrement, Blood, and Self harm

Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, and Grief