Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

211 reviews

grace_may's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Abortion and Cultural appropriation

qgg's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am wrecked for this book. 
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that included all of the various iterations of love yet excluded romantic love as much as possible from it’s pages. At the same time, the familial, partner and friendship relationships in this book are so deep they dig into your gut while you are reading.

You truly feel that “I love you” isn’t descriptive enough. 

The portrayal of disability in this book is intense. I haven’t read something like this in popular fiction before. 

The complex characters, story arcs, banter while plotting games and the characters’ vocabulary!! I want to reread this book solely to look up all of the new vocab words. 

And lastly, I have to mention Sadie. I cheer for her, I ache with her, I yearn like her, I mourn with her…. I can’t remember a female character so unlike me, so complexly written, driven by so many different and competing desires, and I felt I understood her as a woman while not knowing what she’d do next. 

If that sounds like a hot mess, just read this book and tell me you aren’t a mess for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Abortion

jedore's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-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

3.75

“The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time.”

This book was NOT what I expected…which, in this case, was a pleasant surprise. It’s like the lite version of A Little Life. Despite the fact that I’ve never been into video games whatsoever, it kept me surprisingly engaged. It was a quick read, but the last fifth of it dragged a bit.

The story is totally character driven; most of the characters are really well-developed and very human (meaning not always likable). Like A Little Life, it’s primarily about inner strife and intimate friendships and romantic relationships. 

Although I predicted part of what happened, it mostly kept me guessing…NOT an easy feat these days.

I did get mildly annoyed by the author’s “woke” references throughout…definitely a sign of the times. I don’t have an issue with being woke, it just wasn’t organic or subtle.

If you’re into emotional fiction about relationships, this is a very well-written book to add to your list! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Cancer and Abortion

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

lmanor's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

beecourts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion

Minor: Eating disorder

emilywemily6's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective tense 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

4.25

The author’s writing was so immersive and enjoyable. I don’t know a lot about video games, though I’m a millennial so I grew up around them. The premise of this book still really appealed to me, more than I anticipated. I appreciate the complexities of the characters, though by the end of the book I hated Sam. I definitely felt a lot more sympathetic towards Sadie. Another reviewer mentioned that it felt like a ton of politically significant things were thrown into the story, and I agree that it felt a little contrived. Or maybe it just broke my heart. Having the timelines switch so often was interesting, but sometimes difficult to follow when I was listening to the audiobook. There are also some scenes that take place in a video game, which again was a little hard to follow on the audiobook. I think the chapter headings and the formatting of a physical book would make those things easier. Overall, this book was meaningful and deep, with some reasonably messy and flawed characters, and I was griped by the story even though there wasn’t a strong plot to move it forward.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Antisemitism, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol

olivia119's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

ohyeah_karyn's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail