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bookhoarder2022's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I went into this book with high hopes & a friend’s recommendation.
It took me 6 months to read it, because I just couldn’t get GOING.
Once I finally made progress, my average expression was a grimace: there are so so so many fatphobic descriptions I could barely blink without some other mention about how someone was less attractive than high school with weigh gain playing a part every time.
Speaking of attraction, there is so much longing in this book for HS lovers the now almost-30-year-old main characters want to get back to & HS sexcapades that honestly just feel gross to me, reading as a just-turned-30 myself & thinking about my HS self. It’s weird.
Overall, there’s a strange way that HS seems to possess the minds and hearts of these characters in a way that just disturbed me.
2 stars for excellent characters (even though I found them miserable) & some interesting plot decisions. Would not read again.
It took me 6 months to read it, because I just couldn’t get GOING.
Once I finally made progress, my average expression was a grimace: there are so so so many fatphobic descriptions I could barely blink without some other mention about how someone was less attractive than high school with weigh gain playing a part every time.
Speaking of attraction, there is so much longing in this book for HS lovers the now almost-30-year-old main characters want to get back to & HS sexcapades that honestly just feel gross to me, reading as a just-turned-30 myself & thinking about my HS self. It’s weird.
Overall, there’s a strange way that HS seems to possess the minds and hearts of these characters in a way that just disturbed me.
2 stars for excellent characters (even though I found them miserable) & some interesting plot decisions. Would not read again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Addiction, Misogyny, Self harm, War, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Islamophobia, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Xenophobia, Drug use, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Rape, Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, and Racial slurs
Minor: Infertility, Abortion, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts
casimira's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It captures a different kind of American zeitgeist that is seldom aknowledge in the rest of the world
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, and Rape
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