Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

28 reviews

ashybear02's review against another edition

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

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, and Racial slurs

myk_yeah's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

"Are the flaws of the main characters a main focus of the book?" Yes. That's like the whole book.
I understand the hype, in a way I loved this book. But I'm also really conflicted. 
First off, you need so many trigger warnings for this book my gosh. None of the coverage of the book prepared me for that. 
I am not disabled, so I can't speak to how realistic the disability representation was, but what I didn't like was how steeped in pitty it all was. The framing the book took was to see Sam's disability through the lens of pity, offered by his rich, able-bodied peers. There's a moment where Sam is described as being confident and in his zone, and the narration says that his limp was diminished, or something like that. I wish the book would have accepted Sam for how he was, instead of seeing his disability as something that made him infantilized in a way Marx and Sadie never were. 

The major abusive romantic relationship in the book was disappointing to read as a survivor. More on that the spoiler section. There's also a SA scene that is not framed as SA. (Probably because it was a woman sexually touching a man who didn't want to be touched) Made my stomach turn. 

Oh and the very casual and consistent zionism. Thumbs down there.

I did love having a story about a platonic relationship. It makes you realize how rare that is to see in media and fiction. These people are messy, and bad to each other, and I liked it. I thought it was realistic. I like how it showed the impacts of trauma on how we act towards one another. And how you can get a story wrapped up in your head about what's going on when you don't communicate. I love how it showed how far we'll go for the ones we love and how beautiful it is to create together. 
The Pioneer chapter was outstanding, just magic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Sexual assault, Self harm, Car accident, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, Medical content, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Bullying

The final scene with Dov made me want to be sick. The way he was still in the story and able to excuse his behavior by saying "oh I used to be so shitty didn't I" when we have clues that he's the same as he was before. I needed a little more from the book to frame him as wrong.

I do think the drama of the plot was heavy-handed personally. I think the book was dark and it didn't always serve the story. Sometimes it felt like a distraction from the story. This book really has the kitchen sink of traumatic experiences in it and I think we could have done with one less. I think the book would have been even better if it was pared down a bit, a little simpler. And I know I personally would have enjoyed it better if it was lighter in tone overall, I don't want to suffer too much when I read. It did move me, I felt a lot the whole way through and I loved that.

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-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

5.0

I loved this book.  It was a fascinating blend of character and plot.  I'm not a gamer, but I found the creation of the games so interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Racism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, Grief, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Torture, Confinement, and Drug use

Minor: Abortion and Cancer

holyhead_harpie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

If you play video-games, this book is for you. Interesting behind the game development process. Shocking twist in the last third of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Racism, Vomit, Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Death, Medical trauma, Blood, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I love this book. New top tier book. The writing is *chefs kiss* it flows so smoothly and gently pulls the story where it needs to go. I love the characters; Sam, Sadie, and Marx are the found family I want. I know next to nothing about video games and computers but that didn’t matter. This book was about video games but more so it was about stories and love and the people in our lives. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, Ableism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence

rachelmichelson's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective relaxing slow-paced

• 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

5.0

At first, I didn't like it but I made myself read it because it wasn't in the romance genre. I wanted to prove to myself that I could still read other types of books -- non smut. 

This is a story of love and friendship. It's a story about the stories we tell ourselves, to make our insecurities make sense. It's about loss. It's about being a creative. It's heartbreaking and after reading books that have had tidy epilogues, it's sad to not know what happens with Sadie and Sam. 

We all struggle but if we keep coming back than the struggle becomes a part of our stories. This is what the book has imparted on me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Hate crime, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Bullying, Antisemitism, and Abortion

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

Sam's character was beginning to grow on me...until his idealization of whatever-her-name-is. The mention of this game that makes them famous is culturally-inappropiate. So it's just some white chick (who befriended this guy and used him as a charity case) and a white identifying Asian guy whom are inspired by Japanese culture but won't give them credit. I am sooo happy I canceled my preorder from waterstones. This would have been a waste😒😒😒

Marx is the only characteri like but not enough to continue this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Classism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Death of parent

purplepenning's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Full review to come. Probably. A compelling story of friendship and love and survival and pain, about knowing and being known, about story and play and vulnerability and trauma and context — all unfolding in the Shakespearean world of game development.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Classism, Drug use, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Vomit, Blood, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Antisemitism, and Bullying