Reviews tagging 'Acephobia/Arophobia'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

7 reviews

mandyjedi's review

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Vomit, Miscarriage, Abortion, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Animal death, Car accident, Classism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Bullying, and Acephobia/Arophobia

lizziaha's review

emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This book jumps between a lot of different perspectives and because of that, some parts of it are much stronger than others. My personal favorite was the Marx highlight.

“you will miss the horses” was my favorite line in the entire book

I also just love the focus on the nitty gritty aspects of friendship. The way it’s written here is almost overwhelming because it spans years and it’s just so dang realistic. The petty grievances, the misplaced blame, the hurt, the love, the taking care of each other, the hurting each other, the falling apart and falling back together, the doubts, the expectations, the genius, the melding of souls. I like how there’s a pull to Sadie and Sam’s relationship, like it’s irresistible. Sometimes that pull is reserved for romantic relationships, but you see it in all types of relationships in this book. I also liked the way that memory is a slippery thing in this book. In books that span years but can be read in hours, sometimes we expect the characters to have the same picture perfect memory of happenings in the book as we do, even though it’s unrealistic. That’s not the case here. It’s a very thought-provoking book, but the thing that made me love it the most is that it made me want to create. Sam and Sadie pour so much of themselves into their games and the result always means something. I crave that feeling. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Ableism, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Abortion, Drug use, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Cancer, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Child abuse, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Deadnaming

waterbear0821's review

challenging emotional 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

4.5

This book is almost perfect. It’s “unputdownable” and it’s also really good. The major flaw, I think, is that the characters’ flaws did not feel like they were reflective of humanity, they felt like plot devices. It was just almost, but not quite, real. Since we’re talking about video games, it was maybe a bit uncanny valley, but with my heart instead of my brain. But I LOVE a platonic love story, and this book was full of platonic, and familial, love. I will read it again. I will buy a physical copy so I can write notes all in the margins. 
Pros:
-just good storytelling. I like the narrative structure of jumping across time, the omniscient narration is used to great effect 
-the device of video games is also very clever. It allows for layered storytelling. It allows for nostalgic pop culture references
-there are beautiful brushes with human nature. Lots of extremely quotable bits. I cried a lot
Cons:
-sometimes it dips past richness and into cliche. It’s over-dramatic in an unnecessary way at times. The writing sometimes seems a bit too self-aware and it takes me out of the story
-a lot of CW content. More than was needed for the story in my opinion

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Gun violence, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Moderate: Abortion and Cancer

Minor: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Gaslighting, Antisemitism, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Racism

heather667's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Sexism, Suicide, Ableism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Abortion, Drug use, Acephobia/Arophobia, Antisemitism, Cancer, Classism, Cursing, Homophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

Minor: Blood and Vomit

paulawind's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Is this book brilliant? Yes. But it also emotionally scarred me and left me so miserable halfway through that I had to put it away for over a month to gather strength to carry on.

I get why this book became so popular amongst Little Life lovers because this one is also a trauma and pain extravaganza. It starts innocent enough with two friends making games but halfway through the emotional pain starts and it only keeps getting worse and worse and worse till it became impossible for me to carry on reading. After a month-long break I came back, an apparent emotional masochist, to cry over Sam, over Sadie, over Marx, over their relationships, lack of thereof, their pain, their loneliness, their misunderstandings, their lack of communication, stubbornness, and that sheer amount of pure love that permeates every page. 

The blurb is right - it is not a romance but it is story about love. It’s quite rare for books to put friendship at the forefront, with romance in the back, to show the complexities, messiness and importance of those connections that often transcend and outlast romantic relationships. Sadie and Sam’s story is epic. Often frustrating, overwhelming and contradictory but undeniably the most important connection in both their lives. 

This book ripped my soul out, put my heart in the shredder and I’m saying thank you

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racial slurs, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Blood, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Ableism, Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Death, Murder, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Cancer, Gun violence, Medical content, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Cursing, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Death of parent

cookiecat73's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Ableism, Cursing, Body shaming, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Gore, Terminal illness, and Antisemitism

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia and Animal cruelty

serena_hien's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gun violence, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Homophobia, Death of parent, Sexism, Grief, Drug use, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Suicide