Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente

5 reviews

blacksphinx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a fever dream of a novel that I'm not sure how to attach a number to. 

The way Japanese and Chinese characters are depicted made my soul cringe out of my body. (Japan's greatest export is women in school girl uniforms? Really?!) There's a late-game reveal that made me gasp in delight. The book really mirrors the way dreams unfold in their strange logic, and the opacity of the prose and all-vibes feels are no accidents. I don't know if I enjoyed this novel but I appreciated it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Incest, Toxic relationship, Addiction, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Self harm, and Grief

Minor: Eating disorder, War, and Abortion

jo_bee's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

Reads like a character study more than a story with a set plot. Incredibly confusing at times, even though I enjoy Valente's prose immensely it is hard to figure out what is going on in certain parts. A number of heavy topics are touched upon and a lot of time is spent with the protagonists' emotions. I did like all four of them and cared for them a lot by the end of it, but on occasion they almost feel like a stereotype.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Incest, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Self harm

b_fruits's review against another edition

5.0

I don’t know what people are on about, I loved this. World-building at a wonderfully bizarre and creative level, rich and colorful prose, and a subtle eroticism that does not overwhelm. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Death of parent and War

lordofdisorder's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Body horror, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore, Grief, Murder, War, Drug abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Kidnapping, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Blood, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, War, Xenophobia, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Pedophilia, Ableism, Abortion, Biphobia, Violence, and Vomit