Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

5 reviews

billi3louise's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Did you know that the word ‘Brooklyn’ is mentioned 68 times in the book? Now you do. 
I’ve gotta give this 3 stars because it took me so long to get into it. 
Eilis isn’t remarkable, she just seems to have good opportunities thrown her way. 
Mind you, she ruins one of those as soon as she’s back in Brooklyn. 
There were some random things that were never mentioned again. Take Eilis’ boss for example, there was that whole section of her coming across as being into Eilis when she’s trying on the swimsuits? It was uncomfortable. 
Anyway, I did enjoy Colm’s style of writing and the story did pick up. 
Wish it had gone longer so I could’ve seen what happened between her and Tony but I guess it leaves it to the imagination. 
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thesapphiccelticbookworm's review

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emotional medium-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

4.25

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irishbelle10's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

3.0

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. There were good parts, but as other reviewers said, a good chunk of it was just kind of flat. And the end of the third/fourth part really ruined it for me because throughout the first bit, it seemed like Eilis was growing up and changing, but the last bit just showed how much that wasn’t the case.
I liked Eilis with Tony up until their night together. It was so horribly, painfully obvious that it was written by a man. I wanted it to be a little more romantic. It didn’t even need to be a super lust-filled, gratuitous moment because that wouldn’t have been right for the character’s personalities, but it just needed to have a little more romance. And then when Eilis got back to Enniscorthy, she completely forgot about Tony! It was so clear by the end of the book that she hadn’t taken a moment to stop and think when she was with him, to consider her own feelings instead of just doing what everyone told her to do. And I became so frustrated with Eilis for leading Jim on and cheating on Tony. And then all of a sudden, she was leaving without a word and going back to Brooklyn. The only reason why I wished this book hadn’t ended was simply because I wanted to know what happened to Eilis once she got back to the States. I want to know what would’ve happened with her and Tony, if Jim would’ve found a way to get in contact with her, etc. It could’ve been a great moment of growth for her character. But alas, she just ran away and the book ended abruptly.
I hope that the movie finds a way to express the je ne sais quoi that was missing from the book. 
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sib_reads's review against another edition

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

4.5

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readwithchar's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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