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kim_lommaert's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Death of parent, Outing, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Moderate: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Hate crime, and Gun violence
Minor: Drug use, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Pregnancy
katiechasingchapters's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Violence, Mental illness, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt
jennboyack_scott's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Self harm
Moderate: Mental illness, Dementia, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
chelseaabu1'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
Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Homophobia, and Hate crime
Moderate: Self harm, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol
wiktoria_bojda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Self harm
kitstonglade's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
little_ravioli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
It started out with the main character, Aaron, living a semi nice life with his girlfriend a couple months after his dad died and he himself almost committed suicide. Heavy start, I know. The only truly odd thing about this though is.. He seems very happy right from the start, although readers never end uo knowing why exactly.
His dad just committed suicide, he almost did, and he is... Happy??? Alright, from that I just assumed that he hated his dad and he values life more now and moved on as best as I could. Still unnerving, but I'll roll with it.
Then Aaron says how Thomas has a crush on him, but he doesn't return the feelings. Then suddenly Aaron's "friends" are beating him up for being gay. And THEN he finds out that Thomas never liked him at all and he's actually straight, and Aaron is all mopey (reasonably so.) And after THAT, Aaron gets the procedure done to rid his memories only to find out that it stops working and he remembers all these bad memories such as an ex boyfriend who broke up with him and hurt him in the past.
THEN THEN THEN, heres the kicker, the procedure has made it where he cannot form new memories and is stuck with only the bad ones of his life in the past, and he then somehow convinces himself his dad killed himself because... He... Was.. Gay? But he didn't even find out he was until... Thomas... Which was way after that... W H A T.
I can't even with this book.
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicide
blueacorn1991'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
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Homophobia and Violence
dinipandareads's review against another edition
- 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
Holy fork, I was not ready for the magnitude of what-the-forkery this book would put me through. My head and heart are still reeling after finishing this and I don’t quite know what to do with myself. This is not (exactly) a happy book despite what the title may imply. Oh... I can’t get over how much Silvera has me forking turned around with this book! It hit so much harder than I expected it to, especially with the addition of the new chapter in this deluxe edition, and it had me aching with a longing for it to be so real. 🥺 I know this is a book that will stick with me for many years to come…
Honestly, there’s not much that I can say about this that won’t give the story away and I don’t know if it’s just my inability to see things coming in books, but I didn’t expect the direction it took at all. It’s a dark and depressing coming-of-age story that covers many deep subjects including homophobia, suicide/suicidal ideation, severe depression, domestic abuse, and amnesia amongst others. As much as I wanna say go into this not knowing what to expect in terms of the storyline, I would not pick this up if you’re not in the right headspace. <u>Please, please read the content and trigger warnings first!</u>
This has a slight magical realism/sci-fi element to it in the form of the Leteo Institute and its memory erasure/suppression procedure that’ll magic your bad memories away so that you can live your best life. The science and possibilities of it aren’t very well explained or explored but I didn’t mind because the central focus for me was on everything Aaron was experiencing in the now. There’s such a simple, evocative and enjoyable quality to Silvera’s writing that made it so easy for me to devour the pages. I practically finished this in one sitting (it’s currently 3:30am as I write this—who needs sleep, right?)! Although I was enjoying it enough until the 40% mark, I was admittedly a bit worried when it left me feeling slightly whelmed. But when the last few pages before Part Zero happened, it was like a flare went off and everything CLICKED and emotional combustion ensued.
I think another thing that made this book hit is that it’s so raw and the characters are so incredibly messy, confused, and volatile which makes them all the more realistic and relatable. The author breathes such life into these characters! My heart was torn apart reading Aaron’s story because it is like watching someone get hit over and over and over again. It's ugly and sad but also true. It hurt so much, even when he’s not always the most likeable character and there were plenty of times when I wanted to give him a good long shake but then I wanted to give him the biggest hug and protect him from everything. There’s so much anger, fear, sadness and desperation—some people are really SO forking VILE—but there is also a huge well of love, forgiveness, support and yes, happiness too. Silvera had me running the full gamut of emotions with this story that packs an immensely powerful punch!
I’m so glad that I came across and bought this Deluxe edition because the "More Happy Ending" was the soothing balm I desperately needed, even as it made my tears keep flowing. All of you lovers of Aaron and his story deserve to read that last bit too. 😠I’m gonna forever be wondering how Aaron’s doing and if he’s okay. I seriously didn’t expect to be bawling and snotty-ugly-crying to one of my first few reads of 2024 but HERE WE ARE. Thank you for your service, Adam Silvera!!!
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content
puddledunk's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, and Hate crime
Moderate: Suicide and Medical trauma