Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

31 reviews

bonnie3088's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

Started this book because of the show first. 

It is a great read if you want to feel seen, especially if you're confused about life and being aware of being alone in it. 

You dont have to know or relate to the whole kitchen/server lifestyle to get into it. 

The romance was really good, I felt like I grew with the characters realizations on what she needed and didn't need or what she had misperceptions about. 

Over all this book is worth picking up and worth sitting with longer after finishing. 

"
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readingwithgoose's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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hmih's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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emohno's review against another edition

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funny reflective slow-paced

2.75

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itsheyfay's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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anajailer's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

meh. barely has a plot, characters are mostly annoying, i really wanted to love this book as i heard good things but it wasn't for me. only giving a somewhat positive rating because i didn't hate it but i wouldn't exactly recommend it. 
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anafuentes's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler follows Tess, a newcomer to New York City, as she begins working at an upscale restaurant learning all that the job entails. While there, she becomes closer and closer to her coworkers, in particular Simone, who acts as an emotionally removed mentor, and Jake, the bad boy bartender she wants a relationship with. Simone and Jake have an extremely close relationship that is mysterious to anyone outside of it, yet it fascinates Tess, who works to ingratiate herself to them. 

The writing style is unique and unexpected. Different sections of the novel employ what appears like a blank verse poem using snippets of chatter at the restaurant, passages jam packed with sensory imagery, and descriptive prose. I overall found the writing style to be very effective in that it elevates a service profession to a living art, something that I definitely did not feel in real life while working at restaurants; hence, very impressive.

While I appreciate the overall prose, I'm not fully convinced by the dialogue of the characters. The characters, specifically Jake and Simone, talk in a philosophical way thats sometimes difficult to understand because it feels like they talk in riddles; but maybe that's the point, because they try to be impressive people to others.

This is probably one of the darker "coming-of-age" stories I've read. Tess, while if she tried to reflect on her life more could have seen the red flags in all her interpersonal relationships with her coworkers, really gets a rude awakening at the toxicity of her situation and the behavior/habits she's fallen into. She definitely grows, but in a very difficult way. Because of this though, this book will likely stay on my mind for a while. 
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allairek's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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brotestantethic's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think I’m going to vomit. Everyone in this story is so broken, they can’t stop hurting each other. This is what it’s like when you try and reinvent yourself, but you fall victim to one image of youth. You fall in love with ideas. 
Danler’s prose is beautiful. Her characters are ugly. I’ll literally never recover. 
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ashleysager's review against another edition

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

3.75

This book grew on me the more I read it. Very interesting coming of age story; however, the ending was kind of abrupt and disappointing. 
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