Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

41 reviews

aolabine's review

dark emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Murder, and Abandonment

blouviere4's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

disembody's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.25

The prose in this book is so overwrought in the worst way possible. Some of these similes and metaphors are just redundant and often sound plain bad. 

Regardless, I still somewhat enjoyed it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Eating disorder

hellothereforeitsalex's review

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

A well executed story that deals with heavy topics with ease and weaves the trails and tribulations of main character Astrid’s coming of age story alongside the passage time.

⚠️READ TRIGGER WARNINGS⚠️

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

danirc_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

beautiful prose backed by a plot of self destruction 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Alcohol

Minor: Medical content

alicelalicon's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence

layton93's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

amlee9001's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this book, which seems almost slice-of-life to me, but I know that's just how character-driven stories always seem to me.  Astrid is both condemnable and loveable, she's everything a teenage girl hates in herself and everything that a girl coming-of-age is.  I also think it's a great look into the underbelly of the foster care system and a very good argument for foster care reform, at least when you strip back the drama of fiction.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Racism, and Death of parent

This book was a wild ride with a lot coming at you all the time, the content is heavy, but it's worth a read if you are able to read it.

bookish_goose2328's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Suicide, and Murder

lmshearer's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The language of this book is alluring, but the plot and its characters became more and more tedious as the story went along. Editing it down by 100 pages would have helped pace the book as well.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence