Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow

22 reviews

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.0

It's always been just Tiger and her mother June. A well-oiled mother and daughter team. Until her mom suddenly dies and leaves Tiger all alone. How does one survive such a thing?

This is primarly a book about grief. Grief expresses itself in different ways, and for Tiger it leads to an ocean of tears, an inability to eat, and a refusal to take off the dress her mother bought her, although Tiger hates it. The author is very skilled at describing how Tiger manages her grief, but that also makes it pretty hard to read. At first I find it a bit repetitive and too much rumination about the same things. But the more I read, the more Tiger comes to life.

Tiger is 16 years old, but often acts like she's at least a couple of years younger. June has been very overprotective and never let her go to parties or camps, or meet boys, and that could well be why Tiger feels younger. The two of them have been an almost isolated unit, and I believe that makes June's death even worse for Tiger. There's no safety net and she ends up in the system with foster care. There she discovers that there are children whose parents have abused them, or simply didn't care about them; the opposite of what Tiger has experienced. Apart from her mom's refusal to tell her about her father, so Tiger doesn't know anything about him, or if he's alive. 

It's no exaggeration that Tiger's world is turned upside down by her mom's death. She becomes a part of a world she's never known, going to and from different foster homes, until they can find a permanent solution. The author shows us both good and bad places, good and bad foster parents - just like it is in the real world. It's an emotional and sometimes tough read, but very beautifully written. I went from thinking the book dragged on somewhat, to not wanting it to end!

"All your life, you've loved words and language, even if you aren't great at school. You've loved weird words and smart words and beautiful words and awkward words, all of them. Podunk. Mastermind. Effluvium. Macrosomatic. Hullabaloo. 

But there isn't a single word in the universe that you can think of that would describe the way you feel right now."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Abandonment, Bullying, Death of parent, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Abortion, and Toxic relationship

josiebug's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative 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

3.5

I liked it way more than girl in pieces, not sure why it’s less popular 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Death, Cancer, Alcohol, Mental illness, Death of parent, Addiction, Stalking, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Self harm

Moderate: Infidelity, Abortion, and Bullying

jai_martin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Death of parent

Moderate: Abortion, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

S

emomixtape's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.5

I absolutely loved this. Dinged half a star because some of it felt a touch preachy, but overall an excellent exploration of grief. Glasgow is amazing at really tapping into and acknowledging pain and offering hope that doesn't feel sugar-coated. Also, horses do help cure most things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Abandonment and Abortion

Minor: Suicide

esmorii's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident, Violence, Vomit, and Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion

acecln's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Eating disorder

anielabooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was definitely a book about the grieving process. I suggest anyone considering reading this book to check  the trigger warnings beforehand. While I was not the target audience Glasgow wrote for, I did find this book very important; I think everyone should expose themselves to this type of writing at least once in their lives. In my experience reading “How to Make Friends With the Dark” I learned so much about the foster system, among other parts of the lives of orphaned teenagers. This book truly leaves you seeing people differently and wondering who around you could have a difficult life at home.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, Car accident, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Terminal illness, Abortion, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, and Eating disorder

soph1sh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

aw man ☹️ that was so ☹️☹️ sad ugh but also slightly comforting in a way?? idk it’s weird. and i kind of loved it which sounds bad because it’s a book about death and grief but… i don’t know. it was really moving i guess? and like reflective. i think it’s one of those books that just opens your eyes to grief and how consuming it is. like, i know that if anyone here died i would be devastated and i don’t think i’d ever get over it. and i understand how annoying it must be when people tell you to be strong and that it’ll get better because how are you meant to believe that when that person is just. gone??? in terms of the actual book, i really liked the writing style, i literally couldn’t put the book down. it’s weird cause it’s not like there was a huge plot (not that that’s a criticism, it’s just a different kind of book), but i just kept on reading and reading.

i really love shayna ☹️ wasn’t sold at first but her and tiger are such a cute little family you know? i also really like mae-lynn, she seems cool. i’m glad her and tiger became friends. and i’m glad tiger moved away from mesa luna with shayna, i think it’s good that she got a clean break from everything that reminded her of her mum. omg and lala :(( i loved her tbh i think she was exactly what tiger needed because she was so lovely and gentle and kind. also thaddeus !!! love him <33 he was so lovely with tiger. i thought maybe they’d get together but actually i’m glad they’re just friends.

i just really think this was such an eye-opening book?? definitely worth the read. i’m interested to read her other books now,, i wasn’t sure about girl in pieces bc i thought i might not like it bc obviously self harm is very unpleasant but idk i feel like i could take it? maybe

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion

there are more things but overall check the tws, there is obviously death but also other things like alcohol, grief, abuse, etc so just be careful

kalin_grace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, and Grief

starryworm's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Child abuse and Abortion