Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

I fell in love with hope by Lancali

74 reviews

vi_holmes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

Make sure you have tissues and read the warnings, but this is a pretty good debut! Neo has my soul and I loved Sonny so much! Also Eric is such a mood. 
I will say that the ending felt long winded and some of the dialog was idealic/unnatural especially in the last quarter of the book. But the way the author doesn't shy away from the harsh subjects she tackles in the book really makes up for!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Eating disorder, Grief, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Hate crime, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

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

jg34's review against another edition

dark hopeful slow-paced

4.0

I am still a bit confused with my feelings but I think I liked it??? I think to enjoy this you have to suspend belief a little bit, do not look for the logic like I did. This is all vibes no plot. 
Overall I liked the story and thought it was creative in the way it was told. The writing did feel a bit tumblr-esc but I didn’t mind. About the ending-

I think I am wrong after reading reviews, but I interpreted Sam (the narrator) to be the embodiment of hope. I think they are actually the hospital in human form but I like them being hope better so I’m sticking to that. And in any case, the narrator having a “savior complex” makes sense because this whole book is about hope and what happens when you lose hope, so I don’t understand that complaint from others.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, and Suicide

Moderate: Self harm

cartermon4's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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: Self harm, Chronic illness, Child death, Child abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Grief, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Rape, and Death

Moderate: Vomit

v333spertine's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Vomit

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

2.75

For the first half of the book, I wasn’t too engaged apart from the backstories. The second half (primarily the 3rd quarter of the book) was EXCELLENT. Heart-wrenching, but excellent. My favorite character was definitely Neo, though I definitely have soft spots for both Sony and Coeur, and the story of Neo and Coeur always pulled at my heartstrings.

The storyline of both Sams was interesting, particularly in the latter half of the book.

Despite this being right up my alley, though, I couldn’t always vibe with the writing style. There consistently feels like there is a distance between the reader and the characters, including the narrator, which makes sense since their major character flaw is pushing people away, but it just isn’t to my preference. I also like really getting to know the main character, but they remain more vague until the end. You get echos of who they are, but they are usually more defined in what they are observing rather than what they are experiencing. I prefer the latter. It is well-written and has so many beautiful quotes (I love lyrical prose!), but that distance until maybe the second half of the book (for the most part since sometimes it is still present, though less so) disrupts the experience for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Death, Grief, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Physical abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Rape

river_lockwood's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

This the most thought provoking book I have ever read. You really have to be in a good head space to read it,it grapels with such dark themes and makes you question your sanity and life itself, but over all it was an amazing book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Vomit, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Rape

thebookishmama's review

emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

(4.5) I am a lover of emotional books and I’ve been holding onto this one for when I was in the mood to really feel and that time finally came. I want to start this review by highlighting and emphasizing the writing of this story. Holy smokes is it poetic and profound. I truly wasn’t expecting it. It took me a second to latch onto but once I did I was eager to keep reading. It’s the ultimate story of found family, a trope I love endlessly, with the added element of being set within the halls of a hospital. As the book goes on you get to know each of the characters a bit more and really fall in love with them separately and as a family. It doesn’t read like most books I’ve read, and I think it’s quite untraditional, but I really liked how it was told. Lancali took my heart in her hands, made it swell with love, and then slowly but surely shredded it in such a beautiful way. I’m going to think about these characters for a long long time (and also the heartbreak because ouch). 

I do want to also mention that this book mentions A LOT of hard topics. I’ll mention them below in case you want to check if it’s something you want to read. 

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy! 



*trigger warnings* some of these are minor and some are mentioned multiple times. Cancer being a huge theme 
-chronic illness, cancer, child abuse, homophobia, eating disorder, suicide, death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, and Self harm

Minor: Death of parent and Car accident

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

raven_readss's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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

“Remember that just because the stars fell doesn’t mean they weren’t worth wishing on”(6)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Child death, and Death