Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - White Oleander

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

voicenextdoor's review

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dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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madelinequinnee's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beautifully heartbreaking story. The writing was just exquisite, i could easily picture every scene and character with how poetically they were written. I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to watch the movie and compare them

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krosebooks's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

It took me a lot longer to finish this book. Not because it was bad, but because it was so much to digest. There are dark scenarios which I had to process. Good book but not an easy read.

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quinn24's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Told from the POV of Astrid Magnussen, daughter of a manipulative poet who is imprisoned early in the story for the murder of an ex-lover. The story follows Astrid through her various foster homes for the next 6 years as she grows and tries to escape her mother’s grip.
This book was written in such a beautiful way there were so so many quotes I underlined. There wasn’t really anything that I could personally relate to but it almost felt like I understood at times. There were moments where it was kinda boring but that’s almost always how it is when a book follows someone’s life. The N-slur is used a couple times and while every time it is used it’s clear that it’s not a good thing to call someone (it’s used by a terrible, racist character) it’s obviously still not great for a white women to be writing it. Overall though it was really a fascinating meditation on a very complex mother-daughter relationship

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dizzzybrook's review

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emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

I think this is one of my absolute favorite books I have ever read. I found both Astrid's character and her complicated relationship with her mother deeply relatable. I really enjoy this style of writing even though it understandably may come off as pretentious or overdramatic to some. My only gripe is that I personally found the ending to be a little lackluster, but that's genuinely just a personal preference. This will definitely be a book I reread in the future as there is so much to dissect.

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loxeletters's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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averagereadin's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

3.5

solid, but at some point it’s just the same all over again

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jmschnepp's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

White Oleander was a difficult book to get through. I'm so glad that I chose to listen to it as an audiobook. I borrowed it from a library and it took the entire two weeks to finish it.

White Oleander is the story of Ingrid Magnussen and her daughter, Astrid. The story is told from Astrid's perspective and extends from about her 12th birthday until she turns 20.

Ingrid is approached repeatedly by a man named Barry. Originally, Ingrid is dismissive of Barry and Astrid is awed by her mother's strength ignore him. Then her mother give in and begins a relationship with Barry, which ends when he starts dating a younger woman.

Ingrid allows hatred to grow within her leading her to poison Barry. She goes to jail, and Astrid goes into the foster care system. The story follows her placements until she ages out of the system. The main focus on the book is Astrid's relationship with her mother and becoming an adult on her own terms without her mother's influence.

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