Scan barcode
arihana'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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Ableism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
lhaen'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: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Grief, Child abuse, Alcohol, Abandonment, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Drug use, Addiction, Car accident, Body shaming, Blood, Violence, Torture, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder
cowardlyteaman'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
I absolutely love the way these characters are built, to be honest. They all got on my nerves at different points, but I still cherished all of them. I really like it when flawed characters.🫶
Willem is wonderful, of course, but not perfect? He makes mistakes! He's selfish, even. Delusional, at points.
Jude has been through — more than most, to say the least. And to be completely frank, it gets old after a while. I get tired of hearing about his problems, and I get tired of reading about him falling into the same patterns over and over again. However, I'm sure he's just as tired as I am. Or far more, probably. When I realised this, it became easier to empathise with his character.
JB is such a wonderfully flawed character. He made me wince with second hand ... not even embarrassment, just pain. I love him, even if he's a crown dick at multiple points during the book.
Malcolm is just there, honestly. Emotional support architect. But I do love a homosexual who never manages to admit it.
However, there comes the problem ... that there is no plot. There is no plot whatsoever. There is no end goal, no ambition the characters have for the future. They just are.
Hadn't it been for the fact that I annotated and analysed this book (just for hobby), then I might have quickly discarded it...
The events are short and repetitive, and soon become extremely predictable.
Moving on to something slightly more off-track... the names.
Jude St. Francis is such a great name for a character. I love it so much. Fits him so well.
Willem Ragnarsson, however. Eh. As a Nordic person myself, I have to say that I'm a bit confused. He has a Danish mother and an Icelandic father who gave their son a Dutch name? It's by no means impossible, but William or Vilhjálmur or Wilhelm would've just made more sense? Don't even get me started on the fact that these two Swedish-speaking parents named their severely disabled son Hemming. In Norwegian (which in all honesty is not much different from Swedish), «hemming» means handicap. Hämning /hem-ning/ in Swedish. While I'm sure the author had no intention of this, it jus seems absolutely ridiculous of them to name their child eith cerebral palsy Hemming. Not to mention that no-one's fucking named that in Denmark, Sweden, or Iceland.
That was my rant. It was worth it, despite the occasional drags of COMPLETELY irrelevant information.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Ableism, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
santagus'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
4.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Torture, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Gore, Blood, Child abuse, and Sexual harassment
peppyb'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Grief, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Trafficking
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Biphobia and Infidelity
garrusvakarian'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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Vomit
binderjo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Car accident, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Death, Murder, Religious bigotry, Torture, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence
laurengeorgia'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: Toxic friendship, Child death, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Blood, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Self harm, Trafficking, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
heymagnolia'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: Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Self harm, Mental illness, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Rape
joongarten'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
4.75
Graphic: Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Torture, Abandonment, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault