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cnorman4405'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: Ableism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Self harm, Vomit, Mental illness, Blood, Dysphoria, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Violence, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Classism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
Absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking, and traumatictofuclown'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
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Grief, Death, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Rape
delisouseyelids's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Self harm, Rape, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Classism, Homophobia, Gore, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Ableism, Death of parent, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Addiction, Bullying, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Medical content
dkrawec'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
3.75
Writing style: Wow! I have not read such a captivating style of writing in a long time. This book is over 800 pages and I found myself speeding through it due to how well it's written. In a given chapter, a scene would begin, move into a flashback, switch to a future moment, toss in a vignette, and then return to the original scene all while being easy to follow and not lose the plot. It almost felt cinematic and it was clearly well thought out. It never felt circuitous.
The subject matter: Someone on Goodreads said this book was misery porn and I'd have to agree. Jude's life is gratuitously unfortunate to such an extent that it becomes frustrating (at times I literally was rolling my eyes, which feels inappropriate given the subject matter but it was just so much I was like, bro...🙄). It's almost as if all the events that keep happening to him are just for the sake of misery writing and less about what it builds for his character. The only thing that kept me reading was how eloquent and compelling the author's wordsmithing is. I definitely can say I've never read abuse, self harm or depression in this style of writing (which is kind of bizarre to say, but I do think it's a testament to Hanya's talents). However, again, much of it was excessive to say the least.
Fortunately, a lot of the material chronicles the main group and they're complex relationships amongst one another. Reading about how their friendships evolved over the course of their lives from college to late adulthood had me looking forward to the next chapter. I would say about 30% of it could have been cut out due to the excessive misery writing but the remaining portion was awesome. If some of it had been cut, this review would have been five stars without a doubt.
With that in mind, I would recommend it for the style of writing but avoid it if you do not want to read about highly triggering events surrounding self harm, abuse and depression. I'm definitely going to check out Hanya's other works because the style of writing was truly immaculate.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Hate crime
samburkhouse'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
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Death, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Confinement, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Addiction, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicide, Chronic illness, Self harm, Child abuse, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
armygdala'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
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Confinement, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Abandonment, Car accident, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Blood, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexual harassment
mhjmojo's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Homophobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Physical abuse, Self harm, Alcoholism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, and Suicidal thoughts
birdghosting's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Stalking, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Grief, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Torture, Drug use, Gaslighting, Blood, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, and Medical content
Minor: Transphobia, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Classism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
catkin_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Torture, Pedophilia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Abandonment
cfdurham'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
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Torture, Blood, Ableism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, and Body horror