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noalon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness
jade_alise99'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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
abbiesb_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Let’s start with the positive:
I enjoyed the exploration into different sides of depression. We see a main character (the narrator) that is mourning the loss of gaslighting parents and another character (her best friend) that is constantly comparing herself to others.
As someone who struggles with depression and is constantly comparing myself to others, and beating myself up about it, I identify with the narrator’s desire to want to sleep to escape her problems.
On the outside her life looks “perfect” but inside she feels like she’s dying. —she’s a narcissistic, she is selfish, she is rude—her thoughts feel very realistic because I think she thinks what a lot of people (including myself) don’t want to admit that they think.
Now, let’s talk about the negative:
Some of these are simply because certain aspects of this book are not my cup of tea so keep that in mind.
The main character LIES about sexual assault and committing suicide so she can get the affection of a man —I don’t think that this was necessary for the character to do in order to manipulate her toxic on-again off-again boyfriend to fuck her.
I don’t think so. To me, the ending felt rushed and the problems that the main character faces seem to just go away—all it took was her doing some tidying up and she was magically better. this author just slapped a bandaid on the narrator’s problems without the character going through the deep emotional development that she needs in order to be a better person. Her “healing” felt very temporary (I’m pulling from my personal experience here).
I honestly feel very conflicted on how to rate this book. I can’t tell if I dislike it because it’s what the author set out to do or if I hate it because it’s objectively bad.
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Cancer, and Gaslighting
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
zoemeyer's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, and Addiction
Moderate: Fatphobia and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Vomit