Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

8 reviews

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

dizzzybrook's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

morenowagain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Drug use and Sexual content

Minor: Self harm and Stalking

reesespuff6's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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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.

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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.

pearsupply's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Murder

ohhthehorrors's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment