Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Real Life

this was really not my fav, but i also kind of couldn’t put it down (in a not so enjoyable can’t-look-away way). i can’t decide if the characters felt well developed or not — the absolutely excessive over thinking sort of tricked me into thinking yes, but on reflection i don’t feel like i have a grasp on the characters at all — but even that feels intentional, like the main character expends so so so much energy on overthinking himself and others and yet all he has to show for it in the end is these bits and pieces of understanding.

it was a really tragic story but not without a tinge of optimism (or maybe i just imposed that on it so i could finish the book without feeling like absolute shit?). i wasn’t sure what to make of the interpersonal violence or what the intention was or what i was supposed to think of it. i guess all i can say was it made me wildly uncomfortable, which clearly was part of the point but definitely not the whole point. definitely feel like i was missing something.

biggest pet peeve with this book was it’s very important to me to be able to track where people/things are in space, and it was so difficult for me to do that throughout. i just felt like the descriptions of scene/setting/movement were extremely confusing and i very often could not follow, and it didn’t particularly strike me as intentional, so that really didn’t work for me.

Content Warnings

cadystanton's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

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lexkoi's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

lillyll's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

It's really hard to make up my mind about this book, but no matter what I can definitely reccomend reading it.
Real life is a lot of things, it shows the intricacies and nuances of a friendgroup the underlying rivalries and fights.
It shows the casual cruelty that originates from the insecurity of not knowing your place or who you are.
Especially in that suspended period of studying that us not quite real life, where evrything is something between a game and the grand scheme of things and no one knows how hits supposed to go.
The not knowing where it all leads, wanting to start fresh and maybe live your life better, now that you know and the impossibility and inescapability of that.

Real life shows how past trauma can transfer into the present and how it affects relationships with others. And especially for the maincharacter Wallace this is a relationship threaded with violence and kindness and it's very heartbreaking.

And this is before we start talking about Wallace himself, he's kind of caught up in his past and present, not really belonging to his friends and alienating himself. The casual racism he experiences in his lab, from hid friends.
You'll feel frustrated, angry, desperate and heartbroken but at the same time seen. That is if you're in that same period of studying and total insecurity.
And my only issue is that it was a little heavy on the lab and biology descriptions and the tennis technique.
But besides that this was an incredible read with absolute beautiful writing

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stierwood's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Everything about this book made sense. It had me thinking about whiteness in communication and friendships, and Wallace was a character exploration i had never read anything like. At first i was like ok, enough with the birds, but by the end i feel like i got it. Just really freaking astute, gutting, challenging, everything.

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slintangel's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

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yaelm's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

יש לי בעיה קשה עם הספר הזה, כי הוא כתוב -נהדר- ממש, וחלקים גדולים ממנו מופלאים ברמת חמישה כוכבים, אבל החלקים שלא כ״כ מעצבנים שאני לא יכולה, פשוט לא יכולה, לדרג ביותר משלושה.

Content Warnings

ashleyj_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

4.0

This gets very intense at some parts, but it’s so good. Wallace’s story is gut-wrenching in the best and worst ways. Some pieces are very relatable for me too. The reflection that comes from reading this (as a white woman) is exceptionally deep.
I recommend this book for everyone who can handle the content!

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