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Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

El dios de los bosques by Liz Moore

15 reviews

gwenswoons's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is very good, but I did not enjoy it. I think somehow the literary thriller thing veered into something so slow that it often felt preachy and pedantic, endless, often incredibly pretentious somehow. The writing is good: the setting is definitely captivating and vivid; the characters are compelling, even as they are basically all pretty awful. I guess for me a cast of totally awful characters (whether in books or TV shows) never feels satisfying β€” so I may simply not be the reader for this. But I will say that this book felt interminable to me, almost from the beginning (I definitely should have DNFed, but it’s gotten so much praise from people I trust that I expected it to turn around into something miraculous! It did not, for me). The pace is so unbelievably slow, the timelines and POVs so sprawling β€” these are things (even a slow pace!) that I actually usually love in a book, but that felt like such a drag here, I think because the motivations of every person aroused so little sympathy and investment. Certainly others may not feel this way.

I will say that I somehow loved the ending, and found it so beautiful, with such a light touch β€” odd after this book that felt so heavy-handed to me. It was absolutely not worth it for me but I somehow was still quite enchanted by it even as I was so ready to be done. So the writing is definitely remarkable in some way, even though for me this is not going to be a writer I return to again.
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laura_berger's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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random19379's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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euricareads's review against another edition

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

4.25

This was great end-of-summer vibes. Also, as someone who worked at a summer camp for many years, I was absorbed into the setting immediately and could relate to some of the characters without trying very hard. I WILL SAY I think this book was about 150 pages too long. There are potentially too many POVs and the timeline jumps are honestly nauseating sometimes. I understand why those choices were made, but I wish they were more concisely executed. The ending also was a little bit of a let down, and by that I mean, ONE of the endings was a bit of a letdown. There are many endings that happen way too quickly. I really enjoyed the premise and a lot of the writing, but there were simply too many bows to tie off at the end when you're already a bit fatigued. 
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kimveach's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this historical mystery.  It's always odd to think of the 1960s and 1970s as historical, as I lived during those years.  The camp setting reminded me of my time at camp, even though I only ever went for a week at a time.    This story has everything I want in a good mystery.  There are characters to love and hate, a great setting, and a division of class between the working people and the wealthy who visit.
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