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jeremy_bearimy's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction
Minor: Sexual assault, Violence, and Suicide attempt
karenmariscalo's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Medical content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Car accident, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Alcohol, Fatphobia, and Bullying
_inge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I also really loved the characters in this. They are very flawed, but therefore very human. Like them we don’t know whether they’re doing the right thing or not, and we question what’s real and what isn’t in this story. Often I’d totally understand where both Benny and his mum came from and it hurt to see them argue.
The book itself as a narrator worked so well too. I’d read stories where the book itself addresses you before (‘Wij Zijn Licht’) but I really liked the dialogue between Benny and the Book. Benny sometimes didn’t agree with what the Book was saying about his life, and these moments were some of the greatest in this novel for me. The book itself made me think too; I too prefer ‘happy’ books on my shelf, for instance, and often rate those more highly, even if their message isn’t as profound.
At times I did think the plot dragged a bit, but that was mostly because I wanted to see what would happen next. Sometimes characters went away for a bit, and I felt annoyed they didn’t do anything to work on their issues instead - but maybe making the reader feel annoyed at this was the point? I also didn’t really like the connection between the Zen cleaning aspects (and Marie Kondo references?) and how this tied into the story in the final part of this book. I don’t quite know what these cleaning methods actually did for Annabelle and whether this even helped her clean at all. But perhaps it’s more about the ideas behind this cleaning method and what the Zen book represented for her.
I hesitated picking this up because of the overall length, but I felt drawn to it and decided to give it a go. And I’m really glad I did. I still don’t know why I wanted to keep on reading as soon as I picked this up, and I can’t really form a clear opinion about this book as a whole. This’ll be a book I’ll think about for a long time to come.
Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Addiction, Abandonment, Ableism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Death, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Self harm, Drug abuse, and Violence
feebles640's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body shaming, Death of parent, Body horror, Self harm, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
Minor: Child abuse, Addiction, and Alcoholism
absolutive's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Self harm
Moderate: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
franklola's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Fatphobia, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Self harm
prettycloud's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Violence, Blood, Grief, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, Cursing, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Sexual violence
Minor: Ableism, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Classism, Gun violence, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt
This book has a lot of heavy content but it does not stay in its dark parts long and its overall tone is hopeful. It never lingers on lurid details, and the narrators tend to talk around what's happening/has happened. Both the mother and son are traumatized and both have traumatic interactions with institutions of the state, and sheunboxedjack's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Mental illness
ukki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Body shaming, Medical content, Addiction, and Fatphobia
Minor: Self harm, Police brutality, Rape, and Drug abuse
odyssia's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Police brutality, and Self harm
Minor: Mass/school shootings and Physical abuse