Reviews tagging 'Death'

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

15 reviews

wilde_read's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

A slow plodding read where I kept expecting something to happen. Eventually things happen, but it was an uphill climb to get there. The blurb compares it to a Dickens novel. That's really over-selling it! The ending seemed very rushed, compare to the build-up of the beginning. I listened to an audio version read by John Lee. He is incredibly talented in portraying the Indian accent. I would rather listen to a long book read by his voice, and have many more lined up for later.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Hate crime, and Police brutality

oceange's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Violence, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Death, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Classism, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Misogyny, Murder, Car accident, Death of parent, Excrement, Racism, and Islamophobia

adam0k's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Confinement, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Physical abuse, Rape, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

aliciae08's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

This is an extremely well-written novel.  Mistry has a talent of interweaving seemingly unlikeable characters and forcing you to find empathy within their choices and actions.  That being said, this was not the book for me.

Just want you think there will be happiness for the characters—Dina getting married to a man that loves her, Om and Ishvar continuing their legacy, Maneck being spared by the suffering inflicted on the other characters—each hope is dashed. Yes, their are small victories and little rebellions, but the only characters that seemingly “win” are objectively terrible people. 

There’s a lot to think about when it comes to this novel, especially in how our actions—good or bad—are linked in ways we couldn’t ordinarily have imagined.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Animal death, Classism, Death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Suicide, Torture, Sexual assault, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Grief

melissahawco's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Death, Murder, Hate crime, Torture, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Cancer, Excrement, and Vomit

margaretrose's review

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Excrement, Police brutality, Child death, Classism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Islamophobia, and Gore

correct_rper's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Classism, Death, Hate crime, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

dashes101's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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? Yes

4.25

A book I'm glad I read but would never recommend without many, many warnings. It's set during the Emergency in India and discusses major themes -- the role of capitalism, fate, trauma and trauma responses, history, Indira Ghandi and her effects on India, nationhood, femininity, masculinity, nihilism to name a few. The characters seem real and you will scream, cry, shake, or whatever you do when you read something horrifically shocking. Mistry really crafts his writing to pack a punch. If you want to learn more about Indian history without picking up a textbook, definitely read the warnings and then pick this one up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Gore, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Animal death, Ableism, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Death, Suicide, Violence, Sexism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Colonisation

em8ly's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The type of book that I look up from it and I wonder why other people around me don't feel the pain I am feeling reading the book, as they go about their lives. Written beautifully and exceptionally, the relationships made in the book were an enjoyment to see come to fruition but so much of the sadness could have been hard to take in if I weren't in the mindset to read this book that I was. Overall, a fantastic read and a good look into what life was like during The Emergency. I definitely would recommend you be 18+ to read this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Classism, Colonisation, Excrement, Islamophobia, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Suicide

shag_un's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Death, Blood, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Terminal illness, Slavery, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Excrement, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent