Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

16 reviews

ghoulette's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Cancer, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Bullying

zw_books'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War

amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

strange surrealist story about a woman in Canada reading a Japanese girl’s diary she found washed up on the beach 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Trafficking

miladimelow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

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

4.0

“𝘚𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

 𝘚𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦.

 𝘚𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥.

 𝘚𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.” -p92

I have to say I’m speechless. I mean this was just… this was just incredible!

A tale for the time being follows Ruth, a woman living on an island, as she comes across a lunch box filled with a person’s possession. Included in this is 16 year old Nao’s diary. As the story goes on, Ruth gets warped into the story of Nao’s life, causing an obsession of finding this teenager to emerge.

This was one of those books that just really tugs at your heart strings. Once I’d got the middle of the story, I was really struggling to continue on, as it was incredibly slow and very long. But the writing took as twist at around half way, as you see Nao’s seemingly simply childhood switch. And god that really pained me. This is a beautiful story centred around mainly the importance of family, as well talking about the impact of war, which was really impactful and where I found the writing to be it’s most lyrical. 

I adored so many thing in this book but I’ll just mention a few. Firstly I loved the subtle similarities between Ruth and Nao’s storylines, which really suited especially with the ending.  The lines between the two were completely blurred by the end, and this slow build up to it was incredibly fun to spot. I also LOVED Oliver and Pesto, I really need this duo for me. They really helped wrap up the story, and the little side story between cat and owner was such a sweet way to help the reader relax from the very difficult main storyline.

So really what I want to say is that you should definitely read this! A mix between the midnight library and after dark by Murakami, if you love magical realism you will adore this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, and Alcohol

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, and Stalking

squideey's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Death, and Violence

rhubarb_the_herb's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, and War

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Dementia, and Toxic friendship