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emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Surprising to find the main character comparing herself to a friend who was so good at making connections between things because I thought that she herself was constantly doing that in such wonderful ways... this really highlights what I think made this story so lovable, the period of young adulthood when you may be so insecure and hurtling forward anyway without taking time to pause and get to know your true self yet. The characters are familiar but still interesting and the story is not very complicated but hits on just the right emotions of the events.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Alcohol
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first half of the book is focused on Selin, a freshman at Harvard, going through the machinations of college life. If the whole book was set up like this, I think it'd be easier to like it. Unfortunately, at the halfway mark, the book devolves into a strange grooming scenario between Selin and a senior/grad student. When you combine that with the sheer amount of casual racism, literal slurs, *acknowledgement* of the slurs and yet the continued use of them, the constant antisemitism the book somehow always finds a way to come back to... it's not a good book. It glorifies a predatory dynamic between a young woman and a man too old to be dating an 18 year old. It doesn't criticize the lack of empathy Selin feels for those around her. Characters in the book are often devoid of any real personality beyond "the black roommate" and "the friend of a friend who has a girlfriend in a wheelchair." Also just a lot of strange sexual content. If any of that's not your cup of tea, I'd avoid reading this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Excrement, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Classism