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jainabee'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
Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Vomit, Racism, Addiction, and Rape
Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcohol, Classism, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Minor: Kidnapping, Cursing, Abandonment, Biphobia, and Cultural appropriation
Remarkably realistic and accurate portrayal of rape, dissociation, gaslighting, addiction, and moving through various stages of trauma. The challenging material is handled with great care and shows healthy, functional family and community responses to trauma.samantha_dhanda's review against another edition
- 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
1.5
Hope this helps! 🖤
Graphic: Cursing and Rape
jesthemess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Grief and Rape
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Violence and Vomit
davidbythebay'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? It's complicated
5.0
TW: parent death, grief, addiction, gambling, rape, sexual assault, gaslighting, bullying
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Addiction, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Homophobia and Vomit
justreaditem'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
Not only does it show an honest story between two young gay boys, it shows the relationship between mother and son, father and son, and friendships. It shows how men can just as easily be sexually assaulted and raped as women; and and that addiction comes in many forms. If I didn't know any addicts, I wouldn't have been able to sympathise with Jordan's mum. For addicts to truly get the help they need, they have to want it because nothing is more important than their fix, not even their kids. I adored that Max was Hispanic/Latino, as it showed brought another layer of male posturing and homophobia, not only within sports but also within other cultures.
Jordan and Max had a really cute relationship, the way they argued and grew as a couple, with all their own issues before realising that a problem shared is a problem halved, and eventually knew that they could rely on each other no matter what.
I can't wait for this author's next book.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Addiction
Moderate: Racial slurs and Toxic relationship
rebecca_t's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
phew, I'm really disappointed in this book. I thought I was going to like it a lot but the opposite is the case. If it hadn't been so easy to read (writing style-wise, not content-wise) I would've stopped after the first 50 pages. I absolutely disliked the writing style. It wasn't necessarily bad, but every conversation made me cringe and didn't feel authentic at all. The relationship felt rushed and there were so many instances where Max and Jordan made certain comments or had thoughts about each other that gave the impression that Max and Jordan didn't even like each other.
On the topic of liking, I absolutely hated both Jordan's and Max's friends. Some people might be okay with their behavior but I think you should dump friends who don't listen to you, don’t take you seriously and who just generally make you feel like shit. Like seriously, the girls only befriended Jordan because they wanted to help him out himself, like they have any say in this as some random classmates and then only really wanted Jordan to be their stereotypical gay best friend. And then Betts, Max's friend, was just the worst straight, white and not even subtly racist guy ever. I get that the person who is subjected to racism has to decide if they're hurt by it or not, but I feel like it’s such a bad representation to not have him be actually confronted about his disgusting behavior.
Also, all the heavy topics discussed in this book felt like they were just thrown in there to make the story more dramatic. I do absolutely not want to take away from the importance of discussing things such as rape, addiction and racism, however from my point of view it was executed so so poorly. I felt like the author just wrote in the rape for the purpose of giving Max a difficult background too, as if Jordan's problems were enough. Obviously bad things in life don‘t come to you one by one, and sometimes you get hit by several ones at the same time, but this is a fictional story with only so much time to discuss the consequences and difficulties of such things, so if you're gonna mention these, do it properly.
In short: I would've skipped this book if I could go back in time. This is not some cute enemies-to-lovers story, it is annoying to read and discusses way to many heavy topics to do be able to do them justice.
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit