Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

42 reviews

xkwright's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Addiction, and Lesbophobia

madanxiety's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense

• 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 ended up liking this book more than I thought I would. I found the protagonist pretty unlikeable, or at least hard to empathize with, at times. But she def grows as a character and becomes more in tune with herself, which ultimately is I think what the book is about. I think a strength of this novel is that it feels both unique and realistic. It wasn't too predictable, but the characters and situations felt like ones that could really exist. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug abuse

Minor: Deportation

jessalex610's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A very relatable story about a young freshly out of college person, trying to figure out her sexuality and her way in the world, while bringing in a refreshing immigrant perspective. I cried many times. I screamed many times. But mostly I just felt a very deep sense of relatability and comfort that I am not the only young person also struggling to figure out what their life is in their mid-20s.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Mental illness, and Addiction

Minor: Transphobia

janaptrsn's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Truly an extraordinarily beautifully complex novel. What drew me in was the cover art, of course; the fact that it played in Milwaukee, a city I have personal ties to; and the perspective of a queer brown immigrant. From the first few pages, I was drawn into the setting of the book by its beautiful prose, which in some parts still felt like reading a diary or text from a friend. Reading „All this could be different“ feels like being inside a complex, reflective, stubborn, colorful, hurt, loving, sad mind. While I could relate so some experiences, I could also grasp other experiences I had bo personal relation to. The characters in this book are multi-faceted and refreshingly human. This book captures life so far in the twenty-first century from an intensely realistic lense and touches on many important societal issues. It is painful and soothing at the same time. It is real, and I would recommend it to every human out there. Thank you Sarah Thankam Mathews, I am so looking forward to your future work!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Suicide, Self harm, Police brutality, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Transphobia

moniipeters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

dark emotional fast-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

A solid queer immigrant self destructive sadgirl tale of your 20s and the turbulence of growing into yourself and into community. Sneha wasn’t always very likable but was always understandable, which I appreciate! Sometimes the writing felt a little stilted or not quite finished off at the end, all in all a good read! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Deportation, Sexual assault, Racism, Outing, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, Addiction, Pedophilia, and Alcoholism

emilybacher's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Police brutality and Alcoholism

isareader's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

As many others voiced in the reviews, the beginning of this book was the most difficult for me  to enjoy — I found the protagonist a little immature and her views and irrational outbursts hard to understand… but maybe this is just a reflection of what it is like to be young… 

The most impressive and heart-warming part of the book to me is the importance of platonic love and close friendship. The love the friends have for the protagonist is so dearly touching, and to me, more enjoyable than the romance aspect in the book. 

My biggest critique and issue with the book was how many serious topics (see content warnings) are attempted to be covered in the book and seem too glossed over to me, especially the struggle with mental health and political struggles. Though perhaps this is also just a hard-hitting reality.

Overall, an impressive & quite beautifully-written first novel of Matthews with an overall theme of longing and a representation of so many characters that we don’t often read about. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia, Hate crime, and Homophobia

stierwood's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

Gutting, raw, gripping, stayed up later than I should have multiple nights reading it. I so related and felt for Sneha, her problems and philosophies, her pain and joy. Beautiful beautiful

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Sexual assault

sakisreads's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• 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

This was slightly disappointing to me. BookTok sold me quite a lot on this so I had high hopes and they weren’t necessarily met 🥲

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

e.g. her father’s deportation, her inability to ‘come out’ to her parents, her uncle’s sexual abuse towards her

so it’s completely understandable that she does the things that she does. Also, I got quite frustrated at Marina and Thom throughout the story, when they dropped her whenever they felt it was convenient. Friendships, I have also found through personal experience, are so volatile that sometimes it can be hard to keep up 🫠

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!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Racism, Death, Incest, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Deportation