Scan barcode
jhansell's review against another edition
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, and Death
bookwren314's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
mangogo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Enjoyable, reflective story about a brother and sister who can’t escape from their past. Family dynamics, especially in the absence or transition of parental roles, are a major theme, and the parallelism between generations is an intriguing aspect I wish I could explore more. Medical conditions (DM, AD) and lack thereof seem to be very symbolic, as well as resemblance and occupation. Forgiveness and resentment are also major themes, as well as the contrast between poverty and wealth as illustrated by the Dutch House
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Abandonment
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Sexual content
prettiestwhistles's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, and Dementia
Minor: Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
readingwithgoose's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
This could have so easily been boring, but with her writing, somehow I was invested and enthralled the whole way through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment
Moderate: Medical content and Death
Minor: Pregnancy
smreads24's review against another edition
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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Dementia
bearlynormalursa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Mental illness, Grief, and Emotional abuse
skylarkblue1's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'll be honest, this was a 1 star until May got a voice and she alone bumped it up to 2 stars lmao. This was a slog of a read with no point and just petty family drama with a shitty step-mother.
The characters are just a nightmare filled with hate, even at the end there's not *that* much character progression between them it's more just "I don't even care anymore" and I felt the same. I disliked essentially all the characters except May and the 2 sisters who took care of the kids at the start. May absolutely didn't read like she was a child for most of it and I honestly had no idea what age she was at any given point (though that goes for most of the characters honestly, more on that later). Characters were just stuck in a rut and didn't really change.
The way time was presented was very confusing. It starts with the 2 siblings as children, and ends with them old. But the timeline is not linear, it'll just randomly skip around without warning for not really any reason. One moment the main character is a teenager, the next sentence is "I got married with 2 kids" and then back to him being a teen again. It feels like it hops around it's timeline more than zelda hops around it's timelines. I barely knew what year it was or how old the characters were unless it was explicitly said - which it wasn't always.
Despite there really not being much that happens, it's incredibly predicable. It's very "oh man this shouldn't happen or this will happen!" and hammers that home until it happens because who'd have seen that coming! Overall it honestly just feels pretty flat. If you dislike even 1 character, you're not going to have a fun time as every character shows heavily throughout (and some of the worst ones even attempt to have a redemption arc).
The characters are just a nightmare filled with hate, even at the end there's not *that* much character progression between them it's more just "I don't even care anymore" and I felt the same. I disliked essentially all the characters except May and the 2 sisters who took care of the kids at the start. May absolutely didn't read like she was a child for most of it and I honestly had no idea what age she was at any given point (though that goes for most of the characters honestly, more on that later). Characters were just stuck in a rut and didn't really change.
The way time was presented was very confusing. It starts with the 2 siblings as children, and ends with them old. But the timeline is not linear, it'll just randomly skip around without warning for not really any reason. One moment the main character is a teenager, the next sentence is "I got married with 2 kids" and then back to him being a teen again. It feels like it hops around it's timeline more than zelda hops around it's timelines. I barely knew what year it was or how old the characters were unless it was explicitly said - which it wasn't always.
Despite there really not being much that happens, it's incredibly predicable. It's very "oh man this shouldn't happen or this will happen!" and hammers that home until it happens because who'd have seen that coming! Overall it honestly just feels pretty flat. If you dislike even 1 character, you're not going to have a fun time as every character shows heavily throughout (and some of the worst ones even attempt to have a redemption arc).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Dementia and Chronic illness
kvalenti's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment
beankels's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a quality book but it didn’t exactly draw me in. The characters aren’t exactly likable, but that’s the point. As an audiobook, it was originally a little difficult to figure out what era of their lives we were jumping to, but it didn’t end up being a problem as I got more familiar with the plot and characters. I ended up enjoying it more than I expected at the beginning.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Abandonment