asexualandriod's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcohol and Suicidal thoughts
ashthemashedpotato's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
mme_carton's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual harassment
arashnrim's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death
bitsandbobsdivination's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.25
I love how deeply this book was rooted in friendship and creating true, real, and very raw connections with others. I really enjoyed the first half as well as was very nervous for the characters in the second as things blew up to the point I wasn’t sure which way it would go.
Beautiful story as a reminder that we do have a choice in the end and there is always another way if we allow ourselves to seek it. 🗝✨
Beautiful story as a reminder that we do have a choice in the end and there is always another way if we allow ourselves to seek it. 🗝✨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Stalking
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
ameliebryant's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Mental illness
Minor: Animal cruelty
colorful_lulu's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warning: Dog murder, physically & emotionally abusive parent/mother, mental health
I loved how the main boy-girl friendship that doesn’t become anything romantic. Heck, this is addressed early on in the book that it gets annoying when anonymous Tumblr users and Frances’s so-called “friends” assume that because Frances and Aled have a boy-girl friendship, it’s romantic. Instead, the childhood best friend to lover trope between Aled and Daniel was the only lasting romantic relationship throughout the book.
This book has really an original storyline. You begin with drunk Aled admitting that he’s Radio and Frances trying to form a friendship without ruining it by fangirling, to Aled’s deepest secret splashed all over the internet ruining the trust between them, and ending with Frances, Daniel, Carys, and Raine driving 6 hours to find Aled in university and stopping him from going back to his abusive mother. Even from the beginning, I wanted to scream at how unpredictable, relatable, and just how original the story is. With little details building up to create the final storyline, truly like Universe City.
A final comment: I’m surprised at how little the [b:Heartstopper: Volume One|40495957|Heartstopper Volume One (Heartstopper, #1)|Alice Oseman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541887843l/40495957._SY75_.jpg|62811229] characters are mentioned in the book. The characters never use their name but you know it’s Tori, Charlie, and Nick. And you know that the book takes place after [b:Solitaire|20618110|Solitaire|Alice Oseman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390416741l/20618110._SY75_.jpg|39901420] because of the girl’s school burned down in the prologue and it has been mentioned a couple of times.
I loved how the main boy-girl friendship that doesn’t become anything romantic. Heck, this is addressed early on in the book that it gets annoying when anonymous Tumblr users and Frances’s so-called “friends” assume that because Frances and Aled have a boy-girl friendship, it’s romantic. Instead, the childhood best friend to lover trope between Aled and Daniel was the only lasting romantic relationship throughout the book.
This book has really an original storyline. You begin with drunk Aled admitting that he’s Radio and Frances trying to form a friendship without ruining it by fangirling, to Aled’s deepest secret splashed all over the internet ruining the trust between them, and ending with Frances, Daniel, Carys, and Raine driving 6 hours to find Aled in university and stopping him from going back to his abusive mother. Even from the beginning, I wanted to scream at how unpredictable, relatable, and just how original the story is. With little details building up to create the final storyline, truly like Universe City.
A final comment: I’m surprised at how little the [b:Heartstopper: Volume One|40495957|Heartstopper Volume One (Heartstopper, #1)|Alice Oseman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541887843l/40495957._SY75_.jpg|62811229] characters are mentioned in the book. The characters never use their name but you know it’s Tori, Charlie, and Nick. And you know that the book takes place after [b:Solitaire|20618110|Solitaire|Alice Oseman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390416741l/20618110._SY75_.jpg|39901420] because of the girl’s school burned down in the prologue and it has been mentioned a couple of times.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief
entityj's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Emotional abuse
finesilkflower's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
4.0
My impression from the writing style of this book is that Alice Oseman was pretty close to the age of her characters (late teens/early 20s) when she wrote it. This is not a criticism. There is a genuineness to the teenage experience that you can't fake; this absolutely captures what I remember being the intense yearning of being 18, as well as the anxiety of high school seniorhood. I find it strangely charming how characters are blasé about big things (like their school burning down) but small things take on immense significance (an offhand comment, a Tumblr post, a character owning a particular jacket.) Narrator Frances has a true-to-live teenagerish way of being extremely blunt about certain home truths, while still being naive in many ways.
The book takes place in a particular moment in time, circa 2013, and centers around the intensity of online fandom, juxtaposed with the intensity of new IRL friendship. I'm only ten years older than these characters but I feel like a totally different generation in terms of my technology use and pop culture references. The class of '13 may find this extremely nostalgic.
<b>Queer Content:</b> Note that this is a friendship story rather than a romance. Most of the main characters are some flavor of queer. Some of them read to me as trans, but they don't come out specifically as trans during the course of the story (which tbh is also realistic to me).
The book takes place in a particular moment in time, circa 2013, and centers around the intensity of online fandom, juxtaposed with the intensity of new IRL friendship. I'm only ten years older than these characters but I feel like a totally different generation in terms of my technology use and pop culture references. The class of '13 may find this extremely nostalgic.
<b>Queer Content:</b> Note that this is a friendship story rather than a romance. Most of the main characters are some flavor of queer. Some of them read to me as trans, but they don't come out specifically as trans during the course of the story (which tbh is also realistic to me).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
rebecca_77's review
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death