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sophiabenton's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Cancer
Minor: Infertility
beccss_bookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide, Cancer, and Medical content
Moderate: Infertility and Pregnancy
theabsolutegeekofit's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, and Death
amyford's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Cancer, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Suicide, Infertility, and Medical trauma
pkc's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This was such a charming but sad book, in the end. A gorgeous story of friendship, a celebration of found family and never giving up on what you want. Keep some tissues by you though. It is SAD at times. It’s also really funny in places too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Suicide, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Dementia, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Fatphobia
afion's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, and Suicide
Moderate: Fatphobia and Homophobia
shwebb1's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
Beautifully written, just wanted to swallow the book whole, read!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Cancer
Minor: Suicide
lhodgson26's review against another edition
challenging
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? It's complicated
4.0
This was a really beautiful book which mainly centered around love especially a mothers love and the power of frienship. It encompassed powerful topics including suicide, mental health, abandonment, psychological abuse, endometriosis and grief as we follow the journey of Eva trying to navigate her life and find her mother. It was so cruel that Blue mother died so early on and that Bridget was then subjected to the same fate. It was sad that Barnaby never took the chance to be with Eva before it was too late and most heartbreaking was Billy who couldn't be himself so felt there was no way to live. It showcased that no mother is perfect and you get to see the difficulties each mother faces and even though they may not be able to show it they all love their child even if it wasn't blood. The impact that a mothers love or lack of can have on a child but the power of kindness and friendship makes a huge difference. Bridget taught Eva what love was and gave her the greatest gift of all in Beth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief
h_rg98's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Wow wow and wow. What a poignant read. This book had me laughing and crying throughout. The characters were so lovable and I found myself getting really attached to them. Following their journeys was so special. I'm so sad that I've finished this book but it's one that will always stay with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Grief, Suicide, Medical content, Dementia, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Infertility
nisanatreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- 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
Find me on instagram @imthinkingaboutbooks
Favourite quotes:
'People don't know things unless you tell them.'
'Sometimes you can't solve the problems you've helped to create.'
Eva Martínez-Green, our protagonist, tells the story of her life, the story of searching for a mother, the story of longing for a family. As a child she discovers that there are no baby photos of her, her parents won't answer her questions about their life in Spain before they moved to London and she feels never loved her mother. Questions like 'Where am I from?' and 'What is true love?' will determine her whole life.
I read this book for the bookclub hosted by @hotgirlnovels Sadly I wasn't able to finish it in time for the discussion because I have no time managing skills whatsoever. Nonetheless I attended the meeting because I was curious about what others thought about the characters and I really don't mind spoilers. Turns out the discussion got me even more excited for the last half of the book so I finished it right after.
We talked a bit about the relationship between Eva and Bridget and I thought that it was quite interesting that we all thought it might turn out to be a romantic relationship because of how often they declare to love each other. Eva also makes this distinction of saying 'Love you' instead of 'I love you', and considering that she can't use the 'I' with her long term boyfriend but uses it with Bridget is a strong indicator for the strength of their friendship. I was thinking a lot about this because I wasn't sure if it might be some form of queer baiting to have us think like this. In the end I came to the conclusion that this book is as much about familial love as it is about platonic love and therefore the author must have decided to portray it as such. Also there are gay characters in the form of Billy and Lorenzo so no need to queer bait.
What I loved most about this book is how it introduces us to different archetypes of motherfigures in the form of a children's book. These archetypes stay relevant until the very last page and through Eva we meet different mothers who all in some way fit one of the archetypes. Ultimately we discover that these archetypes only describe the mothers on a surface level because there's so much more to being a mother than a child could ever know. I personally would've liked for the story to delve deeper into the backstory of each mother and show how they got to where we meet them. All things considered it's a very emotional but also heartwarming read that I would absolutely recommend to anyone who needs a bit of light reading with strong female characters
Favourite quotes:
'People don't know things unless you tell them.'
'Sometimes you can't solve the problems you've helped to create.'
Eva Martínez-Green, our protagonist, tells the story of her life, the story of searching for a mother, the story of longing for a family. As a child she discovers that there are no baby photos of her, her parents won't answer her questions about their life in Spain before they moved to London and she feels never loved her mother. Questions like 'Where am I from?' and 'What is true love?' will determine her whole life.
I read this book for the bookclub hosted by @hotgirlnovels Sadly I wasn't able to finish it in time for the discussion because I have no time managing skills whatsoever. Nonetheless I attended the meeting because I was curious about what others thought about the characters and I really don't mind spoilers. Turns out the discussion got me even more excited for the last half of the book so I finished it right after.
We talked a bit about the relationship between Eva and Bridget and I thought that it was quite interesting that we all thought it might turn out to be a romantic relationship because of how often they declare to love each other. Eva also makes this distinction of saying 'Love you' instead of 'I love you', and considering that she can't use the 'I' with her long term boyfriend but uses it with Bridget is a strong indicator for the strength of their friendship. I was thinking a lot about this because I wasn't sure if it might be some form of queer baiting to have us think like this. In the end I came to the conclusion that this book is as much about familial love as it is about platonic love and therefore the author must have decided to portray it as such. Also there are gay characters in the form of Billy and Lorenzo so no need to queer bait.
What I loved most about this book is how it introduces us to different archetypes of motherfigures in the form of a children's book. These archetypes stay relevant until the very last page and through Eva we meet different mothers who all in some way fit one of the archetypes. Ultimately we discover that these archetypes only describe the mothers on a surface level because there's so much more to being a mother than a child could ever know. I personally would've liked for the story to delve deeper into the backstory of each mother and show how they got to where we meet them. All things considered it's a very emotional but also heartwarming read that I would absolutely recommend to anyone who needs a bit of light reading with strong female characters
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, Ableism, and Body shaming
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