Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

I fell in love with hope by Lancali

11 reviews

xxzellazephirahxx's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Grief, Medical content, Suicide, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Vomit, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Self harm

lucyford's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The story was unlike any book I’ve ever read, and the characters were also really unique, especially the protagonist. What I loved most about this book was the ending, and all the wisdom the author shared about life and death, it was really comforting to hear. The only reason I didn’t rate it higher is because the writing isn’t really my style, and I found it really unnatural at times, especially in the dialogue, and also the jump between timelines got in the way of the story a bit at times (in my opinion). However, I still highly recommend reading this book for the perspectives and emotional rollercoaster that it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Gore, Suicide, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Grief, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Car accident, Abandonment, Drug use, Homophobia, Vomit, and Violence

isxelle's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Self harm, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Medical content

leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Eating disorder, Medical content, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Child death, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

valerie123's review

dark emotional slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Violence, Rape, Eating disorder, Medical content, Suicide, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, and Blood

cianarae's review

hopeful sad slow-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? No

3.0

This was a little too slow, wordy, and dramatic for me. Especially the dialogue. The big reveal at the end was not quite a big enough payoff for how much they hinted at it throughout the story.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Rape

marieanne21's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Child abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Child death

iris14's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Self harm, Terminal illness, Blood, Bullying, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Abandonment

lolajh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

No amount of knowledge of how sad this book is could have ever prepared me for the just utter hurt I am feeling over this book (which means it is just so very good). Going into it I knew it was about sick kids and love and death but i can’t even explain the tears that I shed so continuously throughout reading this.

Feeling love and loss myself just reading this, getting attached to these beautiful characters and then greiving them? Fuck me.

 

One of the letdowns of this book was unfortunately Sam, the main character. As a narrator, they were impeccable; their words and observations and thoughts about the world were so beautiful, if a little dramatic at times, but as a character, i was just so unable to connect with them. They are rather emotionless and one-dimensional,

and yes, of course this is due to them not being human, but that aspect I would have so much rathered not be in the book. Plus making them non-human and genderless/nonbinary ticks me off a bit. I hate that their whole character only ended up being this non-human soul of a creature. The plot line was so predictable, because they so frequently act alien-like in the book, so it was hard not to think they weren’t human, which made the reveal underwhelming, and I overall just really disliked this element of the book. And their whole character arc I felt was just them and Hikari’s romance, and so much of Sam’s story just seemed to be revolves around other people, like their ex-lover, then Hikari, and then their friends. I still don’t really know them as a character independent from other people, which is something that definitely impacts my enjoyment of this book.

and compared to the absolute angel cast of side characters that are so fully fleshed-out with beautiful stories, having Sam as the main character makes the story fall quite flat, whereas if the book was just about Hikari, Neo, Sony, and Coeur (the absolute best side characters that carried this book and are the reason I still rated the book high), it would have been a wonderful story of intricate characters that definitely didn’t need Sam to be among them.

Out of the group, Sony has to be my favourite. An absolute sunshine of a character who has my whole heart. Her range and shift of emotions throughout the book, her connections and relationships with different people, all had me absolutely yearning for her pov to be in the book instead of or in addition to Sam. She’s perfect and I love her. I loved seeing her happy and positive, not only because that made me happy, but also because of how it shows how you can be sick, chronically ill, and still happy, and have a fulfilling life. Her not allowing having only one fucking lung to stop her from wanting to do the things she wants was so beautiful. I will eternally love Sony, 10000/10 character.

And goddamn NEO. He means absolutely everything to me. His experience with his illnesses, particularly his anorexia, was heartbreaking, as all eating disorder rep ends up being.

It ending up being something that was self-induced so that he could be free from his dad was very sad, and, whilst very realistic for people with chronic illnesses, I do wish he had of healed from his anorexia rather than what did happen, or at least it not being portrayed as something that was his fault. I do feel like a lot of eating disorder media ends up in the characters dying because their organs are withered away, but if he was able to live? To recover from it? That would have been so beautiful to see, but I understand the author in no way owes their audience a portrayal of eating disorders like this. I guess, most times when I see eating disorders represented, most of the time I wish they weren’t, because they are always portrayed onto a character that is skinny, and withering away, when a lot of eating disorders, such as atypical anorexia, don’t have this stereotypical “look”

Neo had good days and bad days (which is definitely something so crucial to add when portraying illnesses, mental or physical, so I loved this), but I do feel like the hospital was hardly supporting him. They seemed fine with him eating basically nothing except an apple in a day and basically just let him get worse, which had me so confused. His friends were wonderful, but I feel like the fact that they were the ones getting him to eat more than the doctors at the hospital  seemed weird. And him only getting a feeding tube towards the end? I feel like he was not at all getting the help he needed. Going through an eating disorder is such an isolating experience, as I myself have discovered, so Neo not having the support system he needed and the right help makes me so emotional, and so sad for him that he has that. I just don’t understand why he was so neglected by the hospital.

And Hikari! Seperate from the romance with Sam that I honestly wasn’t the biggest fan of, Hikari’s experience with sickness, especially her depression, was just so heartbreakingly relatable and realistic for what so many people, especially kids these days are experiencing. Again though, I feel like the hospital wasn’t putting her needs in mind at all. Every meal she was given a knife, and whilst it was plastic, she still tried to use it upon herself, so that is just so odd that they would give a self harmer a tool to continue doing it. Do the people at this hospital know nothing? I still loved Hikari, because in no way was this her fault, but I do just think this hospital is so neglectful to it’s patients. Anyways, here’s my fav Hikari quotes from best girl:

“People glorify youth. Maybe that’s why [Hikari] strays from hers. They see it as a period of freedom, sex, and stupid decisions. These are the best years of your life. Enjoy them. You’ll be grateful you did. Say that to a child and watch them be reduced to a fruit, ripe, and ready for harvest. You’ll be grateful you did–that is a regretful argument made by those who look in the mirrors and see rot. This is what comes of it. People who don’t believe one could be so numb that even their disease doesn’t hurt enough.”

“So she feels her pain, her loneliness, the excruciating feeling that she is dying, but at once not dying soon enough. She grapples with her guilt and her fear and her love for me. They torture her until she can no longer bear it and must feel the pain with blood. When I stop her, she resents me. She resents me for keeping her alive. Then, it begins again, till all that’s left of her to torture is her mind thinning away with her body.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcohol and Panic attacks/disorders

sophtruepenny's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

4.5

I can’t say I enjoyed this book, but I am glad I read it. It was inspiring, while also being dark and heavy. 

Really, if ‘Hetero’ is ‘everyone’s gay and no one dies’, then ‘I fell in love with hope’ is ‘everyone’s gay and everyone dies.’ It has inspired characters in my own works. It was metaphor heavy, and I could tell the author is young (though that is a neutral comment). There are parts I wished were omitted just to remove the slight bias the white author has in imagining Hope/Sam. They were intended to be written race-less and gender-less, but details suggest otherwise.

I did cry though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Chronic illness, Child death, Child abuse, Cancer, Bullying, and Blood