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val_theburrowofstories's review
- 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, Child abuse, and Animal death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
pimaz'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? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness
vinniee'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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Animal death
akira_outofthegravity'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
4.0
Frances and Alex’s relationship was so lovely, it reminded me of my friendship with someone very close to me.
I loved that it focused on them being platonic, with the main romantic pairing being a plot point but not the main focus.
This is a really relatable read. I would have related to it so much when I was 18, to an extent I’m glad I didn’t read it then. Now that I’m recovering from depression, I can see myself in Aled and I can see that I too have a road to recovery available to me.
I’m glad he wasn’t included in Heartstopper (the adaptation) bc he’s too complex a character for a simple cameo. I love him, and I love Frances.
She’s so funny and I understand having a school personality and a friend one. I understand her struggles. This isn’t a 5 star for me, but goddamn this is a fucking fantastic book.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, and Self harm
Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury
danka66'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
Moderate: Animal death and Emotional abuse
Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
lilshelly'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
This story encapsulates so many difficult things so very well. The discussions of mental illness and abuse were crafted so well. It was all so real that it genuinely took me time to read and process. I know the academia themes are prevalent in Alice's books, but the way they're discussed is phenomenal. This extravagant pressure to be clever and get degrees is so ingrained in modern society. I'm happy that the issues with that are being discussed in YA lit.
We all just want someone to hear us.
Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, Child abuse, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia
leikyr'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
pamelasoto'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
4.5
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Stalking, and Bullying
Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
_toni_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
this book was exactly what i needed right now.
i read this in two days time. i couldn't put it down, really; i was fueled by the fun story, the short chapters and the general boredom i experience in my day-to-day life.
as someone who's roughly frances' age, thrives off academic validation and is addicted to it like bad drugs, i found the whole academia aspect covered very relatable and ergo also comforting in a way.
truly a nice read.
but i also want to get a little bit into the things i didn't enjoy, because unfortunately the similarities between the characters and me end there.
this book was undoubtedly and so very obviously young adult that some parts of it i just couldn't stand. frances' quirkiness, her constant complains about how 'no one really knows her', the melodramatic way all the characters react to anything happening in their lives, and their childish and uncommunicative behavior - it was a lot.
what i generally dislike about young adult books is that the authors tend to spell everything out for the supposedly young target audience, as was the case here.
most things were super on the nose, sort of cliché and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. whole sentences were sometimes repeated word by word a weird amount of times.
i also had a couple of issues with the story. started strong and stayed strong for a good 3/5 of the book, but ended up getting sillier and sillier as it neared its conclusion.
the climax was disappointing, actually goofy, fairly unrealistic, the characters' motivations utterly incomprehensible. most of the 'plot twists' and revelations were a little predictable as well.
now all of this sounds like i didn't enjoy the book, but i did. i really, really did. i liked the commentary on academia, which i think is still not talked about enough; i liked the dialogue and chemistry between the characters, especially between aled and daniel. at the beginning i didn't like daniel a lot obviously, but he grew to be my favorite character as the story progressed and my hate for aled, his personality and unpredictable character arc developed.
still, their dynamic was one of the things i enjoyed the most. i liked how intertwined their lives seemed to be and the way they communicated.
to sum it up: this one's easy to read, a little silly and frustrating sometimes, but still quick, enjoyable and occasionally really relatable. i know i just gave a hell lot of critique, but believe me, i'm giving this book four stars for a reason. it's got a certain charm to it that i can't quite put my finger on, nor name.
you'll simply have to take my word for it - or don't.
I can take a little beating now and then. I'm a tough one. [...] Even when my bone dust drifts over the City walls, I'll be living and I'll be flying, and I will wave and laugh. (p. 203)
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Grief, Outing, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Violence, and Vomit