Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

I fell in love with hope by Lancali

13 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. 

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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

shaleen64's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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? No

4.0

I struggled to engage with the first half of the book as I found Sam the narrator’s character confusing. However, the second half of the book is inspiring and heartbreaking in equal measure and the ending does not leave any room for confusion. This book makes you reflect on what you have to be grateful for. 

For those will a chronic or terminal illness it validates how hard it can be and for those without it gives you a glimpse of what our lives are like.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Eating disorder, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Blood and Homophobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Vomit

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

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

zoey_blk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

I started crying two pages in and haven't really stopped throughout the whole book. A truly devastating masterpiece. I am grieving for these beautiful souls, but as someone who just got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease I couldn't help but grieve myself as well. I may not be terminally ill, but the experience of battling with this stuff everyday is so utterly painful and tiring and an experience I know too well. I spend the whole day in bed(and on the floor), reading this book while dealing with a bad flare up. I can feel the inflammation in my body, it is painful and ever present like a sword over my head. A constant reminder that I am fragile and disabled in a lot of ways my peers could never fathom, and it's unfair. I am grieving the illusion of health I had just 1½ years ago. This is becoming quite a rant...I just want to say that Lancali did a masterful job in depicting our grief and really helped me in my personal journey of acceptance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Medical content, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Chronic illness

Minor: Death of parent, Abortion, Drug use, Vomit, Blood, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Medical trauma

erica_reads_things's review

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? No

4.0

Lancali is going to go so far with her writing, I can tell. This was a beautifully done story. Though the writing style is not what I typically gravitate to, I can appreciate the beautiful, poetic themes and how well it works with the story she is telling. Her final note really hit me, and I'm grateful that I got to read something so close and personal to someone. It's an honor to be let into someone's life and emotions in that way. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Vomit

Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Car accident

danaaliyalevinson's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I think what works in this book far outweighs what doesn't. A group of chronically ill teens who practically live at a hospital buoy each other through the storm. There is a supernatural/metaphysical element of the story that I can't get into without spoilers, but it takes what would be a run of the mill drama and makes it fascinating The characters are compelling and beautifully drawn. The prose is often beautiful. The world is interesting, there's an almost plucked out of time and place feeling, where the hospital exists in its own world with its own rules, which only heightened the sense of it as the only world these kids know. What I thought it needed help with was focus. There are a lot of ideas. But once the twist of the story became clear, it also became clear how many of those ideas were unnecessary to make that ending land, and in fact, the ending would’ve landed that much harder had there been more focus. It made me wish the author, who clearly has immense talent it should be said, had been able to get this book published the traditional route so that she could’ve had an editor helping to hone the narrative. That said, the whole time I kept thinking what a fantastic movie this film would make, especially if the film can narrow the focus to its most important parts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Suicide, Bullying, Eating disorder, Abortion, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Terminal illness

garyashi_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

read this if you want to sob your eyes out while reading the most poetic proses ever. my heart broke for all of our characters, for their unfulfilled dreams, for their heartbreaks and their lost chance at their wonderful lives. 
the characters were wholesome and broken, their close knit bond made me love them even more. lancali's writing was gorgeous and metaphorical. it's full of purple prose and sometimes it did feel a bit too much but it's also that made me feel all the feels. the book felt a bit dragged in a few places and that's why it wasn't a full five stars. 
the book discusses the inner monologue of chronically I'll people, how they want to be seen as them and not as a sick person, how they become "the disease's pet" and how time and death steal their lives. the narrative style is a bit unique in the sense that we don't really know who is the narrator till the end of the book and that keeps the reader curious. it's a "now-then" narration and that also was successful in grasping the reader's attention. the story was skillfully structured and it's quite commendable for a debut story. apart from a few pacing issues this was a perfect story for me. the characters and their stories, their spirit- everything felt so intimate. sam, hikari,neo,C, sony will always have my heart and i will always shed a tear thinking about their tragic yet beautiful lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Self harm, Mental illness, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying and Car accident

Minor: Child death

sam_xmc's review

adventurous emotional inspiring sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Self harm, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Grief, Medical content, and Physical abuse

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Vomit, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Self harm