Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

207 reviews

helfire124's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

An emotinal read about the rollercoaster ride of friendship through tough times in the background of computer games. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Antisemitism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Racial slurs

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Bullying, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Abortion, and Cultural appropriation

leonormsousa's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

amelialoveday's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• 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

3.0

A tale that follows friends through multiple coming-of-age stages over 25 years. 

Unique plot based around video games, which may put some people off, but like books, the games are stories and have sublime scenery that draw on Japanese, Korean, Jewish and American Culture. 

Clever, but another book where you want to bang the two leads’ heads together. The “in love but not lovers” trope is getting a little tedious. 

*Spoiler*
I found the first half cliche and starting to drag, but it was almost redeemed in the second half until Sadie’s closing monologue moaning about Gen Z.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

The faux biography Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin astounds at every possible juncture. Centring a pair of marginalized video game developers and their rise to fame, her book delves deep into the psyche of both major characters. She plots their success at forming their game company Unfair Games, their fights (creative and personal), the consequences of their success, their separation and their reunion. Every character leaps off the page and demands to be a player, not an NPC, and the characters' pasts heavily influence their development and their actions. I have never read a book so enthralling, so personal, or so realistic. I eagerly await more from Zevin and her incredible mind!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

Sadie's grandparents are Holocaust survivors, and Sadie's pre-Unfair game is about Nazi collaborators.

jpn99's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

adragoninspace's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Classism

robyn_fenix's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Racism, Vomit, Antisemitism, Abortion, and Cultural appropriation

augustar14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

The characters and their relationships are well written.  Ultimately, though, there are times when the detachment the characters feel made scenes more disturbing, not less. 

The biggest example of this for me was the scene where Dove handcuffed Sadie to the bed. Her non-reaction made it almost feel more traumatic. I nearly stopped the book there, about halfway through.

This book has a lot of pain, and heartache, and characters who don't know how to communicate and don't ever really figure out how.  It's important, I think, to be prepared for that going in. It's not a feel good book. It has some fantastic quotes about life, play, and relating to other humans. It is very clever at times. But I can't say I fully loved it.  Or that it was exactly what I needed or was looking for. Despite that, I don't regret reading it. I don't think there will be a reread, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Racial slurs