Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell

9 reviews

princess_marie's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Suicide

Moderate: Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Excrement, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Drug use

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Ooh this one was twisty, and I was very here for all the drama. I liked the depiction of the hoarding issues, which felt like it was more sympathetic than it usually is portrayed in media.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Abandonment, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Cancer, Sexual assault, Abortion, Rape, Terminal illness, and Grief

corriejn's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A fine read, though a bit slow moving for me. I found that some of the storylines resolved a bit too easily/tidily for me, especially given the character dynamics established throughout the rest of the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Child death, Fatphobia, and Suicide

Moderate: Terminal illness, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Drug use, Incest, and Alcoholism

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide, Death of parent, Mental illness, Child death, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Sexual content and Drug abuse

kodi_rae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

An engaging and sad tale about the complexities of trauma and how it shows up within family dynamics. While I personally found the “reveal” to be a bit questionable and slightly unsatisfying, I was still throughly intrigued with each character and what would happen with them next. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, and Infidelity

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Body shaming, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Incest, and Rape

blouviere4's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Pregnancy, Suicide, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Rape

whatathymeitwas's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

I really rather liked this. I enjoy books that are character centric, I'm not necessarily put off by the lack of a plot driven aspect. Is it perfect? No. It's actually rather a sad and messed up story, but I also think many parts of it were relatable, and it did well showing the growth of characters from children to adults, and honed in on nostalgia and the sense of the clock ticking, and contemplating all the choices you've made in life. What's keeping me from giving it five stars is that I thought the big reveal would be, well... Bigger. That somewhat dimmed things down for me. All that build up for not that much of a shock. But that's okay, it was still worth a read for me. I've read a couple other Lisa Jewell novels and consistently enjoy her writing. I didn't really expect this, though, but I'm pleased I gave it a go. I have a feeling it'll stick with me quite a bit. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Confinement, Incest, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion, Cancer, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Bullying, and Car accident

gemin1reader's review

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was much more of a family saga than a mystery, even though there’s a mystery at its core. It left me feeling very moved, a really touching tale about family and trauma and coping (or not coping, as the case may be). 

Lisa Jewell is easily one of my favourite authors, she just creates such incredibly vivid characters that always feel flawed and therefore realistic. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide, Death of parent, Child death, Terminal illness, Cancer, Abandonment, and Mental illness

lorinew1's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship