Scan barcode
01hannah11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Grief, and Alcohol
adverb17'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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and War
josiemeyer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War
theverycraftyvegan's review
- 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
2.0
Little Dog’s narration jumps around through the years and generations of his family, sharing the hardships of their survival. Parts of the story are upsetting. Even though I am an emotional person I did not shed a single tear while listening to this book. Probably because I didn’t get into the story or characters.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lversrock's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief and War
Minor: Homophobia
lia_mills's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
To be honest, I found Part I of this book to be difficult to get through, in a "this feels like homework" kind of way (and this is coming from someone who usually enjoyed doing English homework).
I suspected choosing the audiobook may have been a mistake - this book uses a lot of poetic language in a way that often works on the page but can be a little exhausting to listen to, and the way the story moves back and forth across memories over years or decades, although effective in helping us understand the narrator, can be a little confusing in audiobook form.
But from Part II onwards it picked up for me - maybe I just got used to it. It's certainly an evocative story, with a lot of insights into the life of a shy, thoughtful, working-class, queer, Vietnamese-American young man, and a level of emotional depth that makes me understand why it's been so highly regarded.
Some quotes I found particularly interesting:
• "The thing is, I don't want my sadness to be othered from me, just as I don't want my happiness to be othered. They're both mine. I made them, damn it."
• "Too much joy, I swear, is lost in the desperation to keep it."
• "You asked me what it's like to be a writer, and I'm giving you a mess, I know. But it's a mess, Ma. I'm not making this up. I made it down."
Works (2) this made me think of:
• My Sister's Keeper (2004 family/medical/legal drama novel by Jodie Picoult): has a similar aspect of moving through time (although from a variety of different narrators rather than the one here), and a similar reliance on (and, to my mind, borderline overuse of) explanatory metaphor and symbolism.
• Call Me By Your Name (2007 coming-of-age novel by Andre Aciman): has a similar exploration of a secret MM relationship, from the first-person perspective of the more (comparatively) introverted partner.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Abortion
uisceerika'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, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War
swifterel22'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
5.0
This book moves you, shows you a horrible but very real in this world reality. The sentences were written so gorgeously that I couldn't help but highlight many of them and I felt like in some parts this novel read more like poetry.
I am so glad I finally got to reading it.
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Cultural appropriation, and War
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Transphobia, and Abortion
melanija's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, and Grief
Minor: Cancer and Sexual content
4ndrea_reads'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, and Alcohol