Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

21 reviews

annalynn34's review against another edition

Was supposed to read this for my book club but did not enjoy the school shooting storyline. Will try again as an audiobook to see if it as not as slow & painful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mass/school shootings, and Blood

gtsantos83's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is really sad and emotional. I had to set it down and remove myself from the story for a while, as getting too wrapped up in it for too long was difficult at times. The story is gut-wrenching, but so well written. Readers come to understand how we all have a role to play in treating one another with fairness and empathy. What struck me most was the mothers in the story; their fierce love for their children in the face of unimaginable tragedy was heartbreaking and real. And the teen main characters! Josie's clinging to superficial friendships out of fear of not fitting in is almost as heartbreaking as Peter's complete lack of fitting in with anyone. The story's drifting back and forth between past and present helps readers understand exactly how characters and their relationships came to be. Great book, but proceed with an open mind.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Gun violence, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

While centered around an awful fictional school shooting, this book does such a great job at humanizing everyone involved, from the teen perpetrator to the lawyers involved in the case. It's a complicated look at societal expectations and how we all have an impact on one another, for better or for worse.

mimamia's review

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Car accident, Child death, Sexual assault, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

ginga_ninja's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide, Mental illness, Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, Toxic friendship, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Car accident and Animal death

jenniferbbookdragon's review

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Powerful and surprising,  with a twist at the end. Picoult takes us into a school shooting,  the events leading up to it and the aftermath. This brought up a lot of feelings about bullying,  parenting,  education,  and guns in a way that defies the politics and focuses on people. There are no winners,  only survivors,  and a community forever scarred and changed. The equal focus on the high schoolers, parents, police, and lawyers highlighted the humanity of all the characters and reminded me that we all contribute to the environment that creates tragedy. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Grief

The main focus is a school shooting with bullying over 10 years.

slipp99's review

emotional reflective 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

1.5

Not them trying to get me to sympathize with a school shooter…

I read this for my book club, and did not like it very much. I found it a bit triggering at times and boring at others - pretty hard to get through. Honestly, it also felt like it was way longer than it needed to be.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Gun violence, Death, and Child death

beesneysbooks's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Confinement, and Violence

xomandymoo's review against another edition

I did not like the constant time jumping, the story did not feel connected enough for me and it took too long to get into. 

The  shooting was also very heavy to read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Physical abuse, Gore, Eating disorder, and Death

haleighpaige's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Hard to read, but necessary read. Such a sad, but important book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Child death

phantomgecko's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

There's a lot in this novel. Because it tackles the issue from multiple perspectives, the nuance is appreciated. I could write an essay about bullying here, but suffice it to say that bullying is a problem without an easy solution, and the book really really explores that. An exchange between a lawyer and the principal really nailed it with these back-to-back (paraphrased) sentences.

Bullying is not tolerated at this school / Disciplining the bullies makes things worse

Moving on, the characters felt real. Peter was neither a monster nor a simple victim but a fleshed out teenager. His mother wasn't a perfect mother nor a failure but someone trying her best and making a lot of mistakes. Tbh, these are the only characters that I really empathized with. But that's not to say that the many other characters weren't also three dimensional.

idk, I won't read this book again, but I wouldn't deter anyone else from reading it. It's upsetting but the message is important, poignant and more realistic than other books I've read about school shootings.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Miscarriage, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault