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ixris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Buckle in for trauma.
Fantastic and beautiful and painful and horrible all at once.
I will never rec this book to anyone bc wow it's not for the faint of heart. But it was for me and I look forward to rereading in the future.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and War
pigeonsarecool's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Deportation
Minor: Cancer
figz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Violence, and War
astridrv's review against another edition
"And like a word, I hold no weight in this world yet still carry my own life."
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Alcohol
hannahnadeshda'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
buffy87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I think this book is for someone who wants to take the time to make the connections, analyze the structure and writing. If you're not that personality then this novel might just piss you off and come off obnoxious.
Spoilers ahead.
I find it hard to rate this book as well. It is complex on purpose. As if it is meant to be inaccessible. I think that's where you start to get into pretentious/obnoxious vibes that other readers have mentioned. There's a lot of recurring themes and motifs, tied in with extended metaphors. The table metaphor at the end I'm still struggling to really understand. Part of me is defaulting to that's lame, but another part is thinking it's probably beyond me.
I'm most confused why the gritty sexual details needed to be included in a letter to his mother. It didn't seem to fit the relationship that he was building throughout. And in fact, there was a middle section where it was mostly focused on Trevor which felt out of focus for the book. There was a lot of content shoved in the story and I feel like it overcomplicated something that didn't need to be. However, I think the point is that by writing to his mom about the things he loves (Lan, her, Trevor, writing, Hartford) they are all acts of honour because he loves her. Writing about love to someone you love, demonstrates how deep the love you have is. I'd say the scene where they confess parts of themselves to each other is what this whole book is.
What's interesting is I feel like the reader is deprioritized in this book. We don't really matter. Whether we get it or not doesn't matter. We're just voyeurs - and it really felt like weird trauma porn voyeurism. This book that is apparently a letter to his mom, where he lays out all the shitty things that have happened to his grandmother, mother, Trevor, and himself and somehow it has to do with love.
There's a small part of me that is judging the content as quite exploitative.
All that aside? There is no doubt that Ocean can write. He can WRITE. There were a lot of lines I highlighted in my mind that really made me think. I thoroughly enjoyed the actual words and way the sentences were built.
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and War
kelisabeth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
chaosbumblebee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
vaykay'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: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
maria_mccoy's review
4.0
Graphic: Cancer and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Drug abuse