Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett

41 reviews

boyinajar's review against another edition

dark funny sad fast-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

what a masterclass in unreliable narration! very raw, sticky prose. deeply involved character work. incredibly vivid imagery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Gore, Cursing, Death of parent, Animal death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Addiction, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexism, Cancer, Child abuse, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

esjay94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical trauma, and Suicide

hdhreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

3.75

Mostly Dead Things is a story of love and loss. The story centres around Jessa as she tries to manage her grief while running her family’s struggling taxidermy shop following her father’s suicide. Jessa is also contending with a broken heart, having secretly been having an affair with her brother’s wife, who has now run out and left them both for another man. The book alternates between present day and past events, which gradually build the complete story for the reader. 

With strong character development, I felt I really got to know Jessa and quickly became absorbed in her story. The backdrop of taxidermy creates a colourful, quirky texture to the whole tale.

Parts of the story made me feel uncomfortable, personally - references to killing animals in cruel ways - which I thought were unnecessary to the story. I also felt the ending was slightly unsatisfying, but can’t really put my finger on exactly why.

Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable and easy read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

brdwilliams's review

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal cruelty

ksabol's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol and Cancer

taemaeto's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Sexism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Suicide

whenmalanereads's review

dark emotional funny sad 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

3.5

I started this book on Libby by reading it and then I had to finish it via audio book. I have to say it is better in audio book format. However the book is just so so. None of the characters have personalities and I found it hard to connect with any of them. Maybe that's the point. To not connect with any of them. I don't know. It felt like nothing actually ever happened and family drama is kind of annoying throughout the plot. None of the characters speak to each other. They just drink and assume problems get solved that way. It was just a weird that didn't have an actual point it seemed. There were some resolutions, but not many. It also just felt selfish and the main character was annoying. The best character/s were the teenagers. Lolee and Bastien. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Death of parent, Suicide, Alcoholism, Blood, and Cancer

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Grief, Animal death, and Gore

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Suicide, Vomit, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Blood, Gore, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

mcislovely's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Pedophilia

katfick's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

Was hoping for a weird and quirky book. Received a plotless book instead with no warning of pointless animal violence suddenly occurring in the middle. DNF. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Alcoholism

grunbean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

I picked this up as it’s one of the ‘weird girl’ book recommendations I kept coming across on my TikTok feed. It’s a weird girl book, but the first weird girl book I’ve read that portrays family and and generational trauma like this.

If you’re looking for a book where lots of things happen, this isn’t for you. This is a book that is about people, and I really loved how it’s the family and not events that carry this. It will hit home if you’ve coped with generational trauma or felt tied down by your love for your family.

However, I’m still wrapping my head around the parts with the cicada.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Cancer, and Death