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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: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, and Deportation
mjwhitlock18's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Racism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
Minor: Drug abuse and Fatphobia
lindsayerin'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
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, and Deportation
Minor: Fatphobia
molliesafran's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
danidamico'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
"I stared off into the low dark, thinking about how to shape a life's great turbulence into a story".
"How will we learn about the world if not from each other?".
"My family is a geode of silences. You would need a hammer to smash it open".
"Just as romantic love faded or fractured, so too could friendship end. But nobody consoles you after a rupture with a beloved friend. There are few movies ideal for watching while your tears salt pints of ice cream, no articles in women's magazines that you can skim at the hairdresser's. You have only 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?".
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Deportation
Moderate: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Outing
mmcloe'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
A Jamesian novel of manners for the 21st century. Anthropological in its detail, devastating in its prose, baffling in its psychological depth. This novel is generation-defining. I could wax on it for hours and hours and hours.
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Transphobia
williamgideon's review against another edition
Minor: Fatphobia and Transphobia
dhritigupta'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
i really loved the prose in this, it was beautiful but also easy to read! i also felt like i haven’t seen many of these types of stories where the main character was brown and queer, so that representation was special.
that being said, i think there were a few things that detracted points for me, the main one being the way the two Black characters were handled in the book. i feel like tig and their sister were both used to explore issues that the author wasn't really in the place to explore?? like when coming from an author who isn’t black, it comes off more like perpetuating stereotypes than anything else. also feel a bit weird abt the author using aave and Black slang in those character’s dialogues for the same reasons.
i’m also kind of the in the camp that “imperfect” characters don’t have to say problematic shit for no reason… like there’s some weird stuff sneha says or thinks that i guess makes sense for the time the story is set in, but also doesn’t really add anything to the plot or her development. so why!
i feel like the romance with a white character started as a bit of commentary on how brown people are obsessed with whiteness but then evolved into a very real thing that i was supposed to ship… i cant! are u asking me to forget all those weird micro aggressions? i did not like the love interest and it made me sad to see sneha going through it for a white girl who really really wasn’t worth the trouble
last qualm: the book did suchhh a good job sometimes with describing cultural stuff/indian daughter stuff/immigrant stuff that it made me so confused when some low hanging metaphor or simile about mangos and saris was made. it was a mixed bag in that regard
i still enjoyed the book a lot though, especially with its emphasis on the power of platonic love, exploration of the feeling of safety, unique setting and descriptions of queer brown womanhood. a nice slice of life bildungsroman that was entertaining but reflective the whole way through
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Deportation
Moderate: Addiction and Racism
Minor: Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Vomit
correct_rper'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
3.5
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Police brutality
bluedilly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Abandonment, and Deportation
Minor: Death, Fatphobia, and Racism