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alisonannk'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: Violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Outing, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Trafficking
Moderate: Dementia, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Alcohol, Racism, Cancer, and Vomit
laurikas's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
It's easy to grant this is the saddest most graphic book I have ever read - and during many sections I found myself quite angry (with the author, with myself, with life?). I felt I was being exploited, that my emotions were being exploited so much that at times I felt I was reading those sensationalist newspapers that like portraying people during war crimes, or mass shootings, with as much misery as possible, with as much horror as they can muster.
Also throughout the book all the different characters - Harold, Willem, Andy - kept suggesting things were going to get really bad, and I had to shake myself, what can this possibly mean, how can we get any worse than this? Why would it get any worse than this? What are we doing here? That life is brutal and sad and twisted, I can recognize, but do I really have to read 700 pages of self destruction? Of utter misery?
And all throughout the book my answer was unsure. Sometimes I felt like throwing the book at the wall, sometimes I just got so pulled in, so completely sucked into their stories... so much that I also know and recognize as well that there are some beautifully written parts, and some beautiful reflections, starting with the title (to each chapter title as well) to the characters development and their struggles. It was so real, so consuming, so moving.
However do I believe all this misery could happen to one person alone? No.
The same way happy endings can sound unreal and farfetched, so the plot here follows the same logic.
Anyway, I could write the world about this book. I will leave it here with... I got fortunate to see the live theatre play in March 2023 in London, with the most beautiful cast and directed by Ivo Van Hove and... it made the story sink in even deeper. It was extraordinary. Great achievement, and I grant you this - in the end, art is not there to be always pretty and appeasing and simple and straightforward. Art shocks and destroys and shakes and... moves us.
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Violence, Addiction, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Drug use, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
anton13'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: Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Suicide, Vomit, Blood, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Addiction, Drug use, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Grief, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Chronic illness, Dementia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
lozbot27's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Suicide, Car accident, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Dementia, Infertility, Self harm, Torture, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
atridie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Sometimes it’s easy to confuse shock value with good writing; and in this case, there’s shock value on top of shock value on top of shock value, and for no other purpose than shocking, to the point where it’s almost funny.
It’s a pathetic attempt to induce feelings in a way that feels forced and artificial. I admit that it made me cry, but mostly I was just angry at how awful the book is. And side note: as a person with a history of self-harm, the book felt like a spit in the face.
“The book follows the story of four friends…” no it does not? Malcolm dissapears pretty quickly. JB only comes back when it’s convenient, in order to push Jude’s story forward. Speaking of, I really don’t care about Jude. He feels like a cardboard cutout of a person. I don’t even know why any of them are friends.
“The writing is gorgeous though” it’s very mediocre.
I will never complain about a book ever again because there’s no way I can find something worse than this. I don’t understand why it’s so praised, or why it was published in the first place.
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Medical content, Rape, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Vomit, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Confinement, Religious bigotry, and Infertility
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Dementia
satana17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Addiction, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gore, Trafficking, and Body horror
Minor: Car accident, Cancer, Child death, Dementia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Hate crime, and Racism
oops_i_read_it_again's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Violence, Sexual assault, Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Suicide, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Classism, Dysphoria, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
pidge_reads'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
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Ableism, Grief, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Car accident, Dementia, and Confinement
egna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Sexual assault, Ableism, Body shaming, Rape, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Biphobia, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Vomit, Abandonment, Addiction, Dementia, and Religious bigotry
bandagedloser's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, and Addiction
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Death of parent and Dementia