Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

8 reviews

sr_marshrat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

It's Mitchell, so, of course Cloud Atlas is beautifully written, each of his six worlds rendered such that they engulf the reader completely. It takes more than beautiful writing, though, to make a story engaging, and not all of Mitchell's six souls had stories that stood well on their own. I found myself racing through those chapters, less interested in the characters and their adventures, focussed instead on searching for the details that wove Mitchell's six, seemingly disparate, stories into one narrative. While some connections are clever, others are... thin. When the connective story elements are tenuous at best, they detract from the themes that would otherwise elegantly unify each chapter of this soul-journey into one novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Racism, Car accident, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Cloud Atlas is a long, sweeping narrative with each chapter about a different person who is a reincarnation of the previous chapter's main character and the ways they are all interconnected despite existing in different eras experiencing wildly different situations. The theory was very cool to me and I was intrigued by the way that the book doesn't spell out any of the world-building sci-fi elements clearly, leaving the whole reincarnation idea up to interpretation for the most part. However, out of the 6 main characters, 4 were white men whose stories really paled in comparison to the 2 women's chapters. Luisa and especially Sonmi-451 carried this book in my opinion. While their chapters were engaging, action-packed, and full of social commentary, I felt the other chapters dragged on and were far less memorable. I even felt like the first character we were introduced to was by far the least interesting, which made it tough to read since his chapters were the very first one and the last one. Although I liked the premise I just wanted more in the execution from this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Body horror, Sexual content, Biphobia, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

auggiet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

beautiful !! some parts were slower than others depending on your preference of story telling and genre, but as a whole this book far exceeded my expectations after seeing some not-so-great reviews. the commentary on cyclicality and self-destruction on historical scales and in individual instances feels like something ive been trying to put into words myself for a while now. definitely a book that ill be thinking about for a long time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Drug use, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Murder, Death, Vomit, Gore, Addiction, Classism, Xenophobia, War, Drug abuse, Racism, Car accident, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Dementia, Grief, and Gun violence

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Colonisation, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cannibalism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Car accident, Murder, and Racial slurs

interesting_struggle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Racism, Murder, Animal death, Colonisation, Cursing, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry

voilajean's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Suicide, and Car accident

Moderate: Cannibalism

thembojoebiden's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Suicide

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Rape

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

jlalor92's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Car accident, and Forced institutionalization