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moniipeters's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Deadnaming, Deportation, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Rape
ka_cam's review
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Deportation, Sexual assault, Racism, Outing, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Addiction, Pedophilia, and Alcoholism
marielcariker's review
- 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
Moderate: Sexual assault and Deportation
sakisreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
In saying that though, there were some real tender moments where I truly felt for Sneha. She’s obviously brought so much trauma to the forefront
Someone said this was one to read when you felt a bit lost in your 20’s and it definitely fits that genre. I’m hopeful to read other things by Sarah Thankam Mathews that’ll work better for me though 🥰 Thank you!
Graphic: Addiction, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Racism, Death, Incest, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Deportation
sxndaze's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Transphobia, Racism, Alcoholism, Deportation, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
lifewithjoce's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Pedophilia and Transphobia
Moderate: Racism, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, and Homophobia
Minor: Toxic relationship
yajairat's review
- 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
The writing blew me away, just so beautiful and poetic. I was moved to tears at some points. A lot of the times I saw myself in her, as I’m a child of immigrants, and struggle with sort of building my identity. Overall, I enjoyed this!
Some quotes:
“Lord, I confess I want the clarity of catastrophe but not the catastrophe. Like everyone else, I want a storm I can dance in. I want an excuse to change my life.”
“This is built into adulthood, like one of those wall-mounted ironing boards in old houses. Somewhere in their twenties, people like me become far too horny for interior design.”
“We all have our truth if a place. There is no universal narrative of any city that is also real. Only marketing.”
“White Americans could be so cold, just like that, out of the blue. Perhaps the important thing was to not let them in deep.”
“The process of really getting to know anyone is a process of years, and for most people there is just a switch that flips and they decide, okay, this could be my person, I’m making the choice to commit to them.”
“Wp get to own their lives, they get to feel like their lives belong to only them.”
“Nobody consoles you after a rupture with a beloved friend… you only have the ache. No script to accompany it. No ritual to give it shape.”
“How was anyone expected to dream loftily about the future when the present ground them down to powder and nothingness.”
“This is what it means, to come here as an immigrant. You are here in sufferance. You are a form of currency, not a person, and only a person has the right to desire, which is to say, to be difficult.”
“The refrains of our lives are the moments we revolve around, maybe the moments that were stopped too soon, stopped before we were ready, and so we are frozen, pirouetting in time, always thinking on the possibility that might have been.”
“What nobody told me when I was a very young person was that obedience, fearful toeing of every line, chasing every kind of safety, would not save you. What nobody told me growing up was that sometimes your friends do join your family, fusing care, irritation, loyalty, shared history, and affectionate contempt into a tempered love, bright and daily as steel.”
Moderate: Deportation, Child abuse, Addiction, and Alcoholism
rachaelwho's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Incest, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Outing, Homophobia, Mental illness, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Deportation, Fatphobia, and Sexual violence
erickaonpaper's review
- 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
Graphic: Drug abuse
Moderate: Addiction and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death, Deportation, Abandonment, and Child abuse
malayapapaya's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Deportation, Classism, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death