Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

41 reviews

patchworkninja's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism and Addiction

aliiloue's review

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

slow start and i very nearly dnf'd but pushed through. the books really picks up at about the half way mark and zooms to the finish line. it becomes very poignant and i admit i did actually shed a tear. it creates a layered portrait of a family through the generations and did a fantastic job of showing how our stories and personal mythoses are told and retold and woven into the tapestry of our lives. the style initially was quite off putting for me as we are told a lot of information rather than shown it but i did eventually get over it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Terminal illness

jegan4'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Abandonment, and Death

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Child death, and Alcoholism

yipt's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death of parent, and Death

ethanmmc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-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

3.5

Some plot points felt implausible to me, and the amount of local flavor is a bit limited (presumably due to the fact that the author isn't local), but I still got invested in the characters and the outcome of the various plot threads. Enjoyed reading it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism

theshanana'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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

tiredfangirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I was so torn about how to star rate this book. The themes were incredibly well developed looking back from the end, but I think as I was reading it felt like a lot of stuff was going nowhere. 

In terms of the characterization, I didn’t like any of the characters for about the first half of the book. I get that it was building towards the larger themes, but it meant that I wasn’t really enjoying reading it. I also really felt like for a book with such complex characters otherwise, Julia and Rose got very one-note characterizations.

I’m more forgiving of Charlie’s 2-note characterization because I think it makes a point about how we idealize people after death, but I wish she had DONE something with that.

Despite all that, I couldn’t seem to put it down. So… 4/5 I guess? But definitely 5/5 at times and 2/5 at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcoholism and Addiction

torturedreadersdept'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Minor: Drug abuse, Infertility, and Sexual content

mrsmcfun's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Infidelity, and Cancer

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh lord. How do I describe this book? When I read it was like a Little Women retelling I was a tad scared because I didn't know what to expect. Let me tell you to expect to laugh, cry, and smile at this beautiful book. I was skeptical about the first few chapters but then Napolitano throws you a curve ball and ramps the pace right up! The characters are complex and beautifully developed, the story manages to be funny, sad, and reflective of family and love all at the same time. The end is beautiful and unexpected (I cried for like 80 pages no joke!) but perfectly closes out the book and all loose ends. I wish I could read this again for the first time because i'd appreciate it more! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Terminal illness, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Mental illness, Body horror, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail