Reviews tagging 'Death'

Godshot by Chelsea Bieker

12 reviews

savyelizabeth's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Child abuse

Moderate: Death and Suicide

kvokolek's review against another edition

dark

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicide and Death

defeating_my_demons's review against another edition

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Animal death

sarahholliday's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

Godshot is one of those books that I can't say I enjoyed...but it's stuck with me, and I that can be more meaningful in the long run when it comes to stories.

If I had to describe the story in a single word, it'd be: BLEAK. A relentless study in just how gross and awful humans can be, there's also the added weight of climate change, broken-down familial relationships, and an oppressive sense of hopelessness. 

But that might be why the ending (I won't spoil anything here, don't worry) is so beautiful. There are no "easy" answers or perfect happily-ever-afters, but there is hope. Bieker forces readers to sit in the truly miserable, to face the realities experienced by so many, in order to point out the ability of love, kindness, and beauty to exist in the most unlikely of places. There's no sentimentality in that idea, either. Just a simple yet deeply-rooted conviction that things can be truly awful and occasionally wonderful all at the same time. 

This is definitely not a book for everyone, but it'll go on my recommendation list nevertheless and I'll be waiting to run across the right reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, and Gaslighting

gotabookforeverysituation's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Incest, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide, Child death, Death, Alcoholism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Car accident, Abortion, Confinement, Vomit, Bullying, and Blood

jlboro's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

4.0

White Oleander meets Grapes of Wrath with a 21st Century cult twist. This is an incredibly challenging book. Don’t be fooled by the cover, this is not a glamorous or fluffy book. It’s hard to love this book, I don’t think I would use that word. But it challenged me to a degree I haven’t encountered in a long time. I laughed but my draw dropped just as often. 

There’s a great interview with the author on NPR’s All Things Considered (April 6, 2020) that I highly recommend checking out before reading. Great segment! 

 I wouldn’t be surprised if in 6+ months I consider this a 5 star bc I’m still thinking about the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, and Rape

lycheejelly's review

challenging dark sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Abortion, Cancer, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Fatphobia

rileyharrell's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

 WARN SOMEONE NEXT TIME...

Okay I did not NOT like this book, but I did not LIKE this book either. I am unsure about my feelings for this book. This story contains so many trigger warnings that I feel like it isn't the best forum here on Goodreads to even list them all. Anyways this has such a unique writing style that it took me a minute to get into. However, once I did, it went pretty smoothly. Some of the characters were hard to read and follow, so not really sure where their story went. I didn't feel that it was very character-driven or developed, and I felt that it wasn't necessarily plot-driven either? All of the characters, including Lacey May felt really underdeveloped and this book didn't really give them any room to grow. You could tell Bieker really wanted them to grown and definitely gave them an opportunity to do so, but it fell short in the writing of developed characters for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Gun violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

deezy's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

shortcas's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit