Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

11 reviews

vvsmydiamonds's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring 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

This was such an amazing read. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get through All The Bright Places (without feeling sad) because I watched the movie first. However, Holding Up The Universe was less devastating but still a hard hitter. I loved it. I read every letter, I re-read pages, I took pictures, and I wrote quotes. This book was wonderfully written, it is a gem. I’m grateful for Libby and Jack. I’m thankful for Rachel, Bailey, Iris, Jayvee, Marcus, and Dusty. 🤍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Bullying, and Fatphobia

elizareign's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

Short chapters for the win!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Grief, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Ableism

readwithjules_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

From the beginning, this book pulled at my heart strings. Jennifer tells a beautiful story between two beautiful people. Watching both Libby and Jack grow throughout the book was super sweet and inspiring. Watching these characters come into themselves and reach their full potential was absolutely amazing. The writing was beautiful as well. The only thing iIm not necessarily a fan of is the amount of cussing, how vulgar the descriptions were of libby, and how Jack only remembers Libby. (Its giving "I can fix him/She fixed me"). But otherwise I have no complaints of this book and I think it is a truly beautiful story. Jennifer has done it yet again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Alcohol

abigailmeeks's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Fatphobia, Bullying, Death of parent, and Eating disorder

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and Confinement

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful relaxing fast-paced

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

2.0

Better to be the hunter than the hunted. Even if you're hunting yourself."

Jennifer Niven's writing style is THE BEST. fast-paced, very short chapters. it just keeps you going. i loved All the Bright Places a lot, so i had extremely high hopes for this one.

and i wasn't disappointed, but neither was i particularly ecstatic. the characters were fine i guess, but sadly pretty black-and-white if you look past their main conflicts - jack's prosopagnosia and libby's weight struggles. this felt dangerously much like a self-help book, with positive affirmations and all that every other page. got repetitive pretty quickly, same as their struggles and complaints.
so many plot points also felt straight-up useless - jack building a robot for his brother, libby and the damsels. tenacious fillers where there should've been more plot, more substance, more struggles.

10/10 for the writing, 4/10 for the content (because of the plus-size representation and the quite informative subject of prosopagnosia).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, and Violence

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Kidnapping

jessicohen15's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

3.0

Warm and heartfelt story of two teenagers dealing with their own issues: fatphobia and not recognizing peoples faces. Really good story, easy read, and fun descriptions!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Violence

calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Bullying, Body shaming, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Medical content, Cursing, Death of parent, Violence, and Alcohol

leesbookshelf's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Violence

booksanna's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.75

This book was so emotional and caring, I fell in love with Libby’s character and strength. I loved the split point of view throughout the book, which made me so excited for the next persons pov. I also loved the diversity and familiarity of characters in this book. This was a great book journey for me that I would want to experience all over again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Medical trauma

avasolange's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.25

      This book was not what i expected at all. To be honest I'm not sure what I was expecting. If you looking for a book full of differing perspectives, heartbreaking details, and flustering decisions, oh boy this is the book for you. The end wasn't very satisfying however < spoiler> it was a happy ending

I just felt it needed more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, and Toxic friendship