Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

I fell in love with hope by Lancali

7 reviews

tyghe_bright's review

emotional 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

4.0

From the outset, I knew I'd love this book, even if the story was imperfect. The *writing*. The prose in this little book is STUNNING. It's made me catch my breath several times.  The writing is impressionistic, which I *love*, but may not be for folks who prefer narrative plot-driven novels.1

The prose remains strong throughout, though not quite as strong when she's focused on plot. And the plot often suffers from "that's not how it works" with unrealistic portrayals of life in a hospital. Something the author knows about, because she's struggled with autoimmune disease. I also really felt the author's youth. It feels a little immature at times. 
 

There's a "twist" about the narrator which is handled a little clumsily. It's hinted at heavily, and then explained explicitly, where it would have been better left more open. 

Some reviews say it needed to be more accurate and realistic... but I disagree. If I were her editor, I would have encouraged her to go MORE abstract and fantastical. Her work shines most when she focuses on emotion and sensation.

Overall, it's a beautiful, if slightly imperfect, book with lovely, tender, tragic relationships. I still recommend it and will look for more by Lancali. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, Grief, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Ableism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Body shaming, Self harm, and Religious bigotry

bri__'s review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This was very slow, but I understand that it needed to be slow for the depth of the characters to be sufficient. I cried towards the end. The writing is beautiful, but felt overly quotable at times. I also found that the characters didn't speak their age, and it was never actually specified how old they were. It was difficult to understand the situation when travelling between timelines and povs, which made the structure quite messy. Please check content warnings, this book is very heavy with dark topics.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Vomit, Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Mental illness, Suicide, Abandonment, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, Violence, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Child abuse, Cursing, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

elkila's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Child death, Death, Gore, Medical content, Terminal illness, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

fanboyriot's review

emotional 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

4.0

I knew this book was going to be heartbreaking to read—and I was right.  However, it was also funny and all so wholesome at times too.  The writing was truly beautiful to read to learn their stories and to read lines in the book that felt all too relatable at times.  Just a nice found family doing their best to live their lives to the fullest for however long they can.  It was truly a lovely read.

Queer Rep
Found Family
Hurt/Comfort 
Mental Health Rep
Beautiful Writing Style

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Cursing

Minor: Rape, Gaslighting, Ableism, Death of parent, and Vomit

sobemoji_'s review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

I loved this book, I found it very inspiring. I love every character and appreciate Lancali for writing this book in a way that you could really connect with it on a deeper level. I was a bit confused at the end, but after looking at some videos made by the author, it made a bit more sense. This book, I feel, is meant to leave you with a message. It’s not a standard beginning to end kind of book. 
It was unique and different from what I’m used to. I loved it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Death, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Ableism, and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying, Body horror, Suicide, Addiction, and Homophobia

Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion

gothmiku's review

Right book wrong time for me reading it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Death, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Infertility, Suicide, Body horror, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol and Ableism

cassie12_21's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

Prepare to fucking CRY! This book was emotionally devastating in a good way.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Death, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Self harm, Child death, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Rape, Violence, and Body horror

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Ableism, Cancer, and Alcohol