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narbine's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
jhsu's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Gun violence and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape, Terminal illness, and Abortion
ninawilson49's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
asacco9642'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? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Infidelity, Rape, Car accident, and Abandonment
Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
avabanana's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage
jaclynrei'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, and Classism
maziodynes's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
It's obvious the game development process stuff was well researched. I found myself really enjoying Marx's perspective as a games producer myself. however, the game dev "lingo" and the games they brought up in context were off or didn't make sense for the time (or even the character's personalities). The author researched game dev history, and design, but it seemed like she didnt actually talk to many developers, and it showed.
The MMO segment at the end was particularly weird from a player perspective - nobody pretends like they arent playing a game unless theres some REALLY stringent RP going on, rare in a full online game unless you have friends you actively slchoose to do it with.
I found any and all mentions of sex in this book to feel far too clinical. It made sense sometimes for Sadie and Sam's over-intellectual povs, but even from Marx who is an emotionally intelligent and loving person, any POV of sex felt completely stripped down of emotion. The scenes felt so impersonal they may have well been omitted, esp when they were one-off sentences of "they had sex." But of course, we get the excruciating physical and emotional details when Sadie is sexually abused by Dov. Make it make sense
This is a personal hangup, but I couldn't get behind was the fact that Sadie kept Dov in her life the entire time. I understood needing to keep the professional relationship for Ichigo, at least at first. But how the is the game that your abuser made your COMFORT GAME? and you're still GETTING BRUNCH with him 10 years later?!? and he gives her that teaching position... it just makes me absolutely sick and soured my perception of Sadie. I wanted to root for her, but between some "not like other girls"-isms and her inability to work on her mental health in any capacity, I just couldn't after a while. And I liked Sam as a character alone, but his obsessive friendship /romantic tension with Sadie was too toxic for me to end up rooting for in the end.
There were some beautiful lines in this book, some sentiments about life and friendship, and my chosen career that truly moved me. but the relationships between the characters ultimately left me wanting more resolution.
Marx was the emotional heart of this book for me in the end. His second-person chapter reduced me to tears. tbh, that chap alone is why I am giving this a 2.75 instead of 2.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body horror, Cancer, and Terminal illness
justluck's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Death and Sexual content
courier6's review against another edition
Moderate: Gun violence and Rape
myweirdnormal's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
On the other hand the characters are 0/5. I hated most of them, ESPECIALLY SAM, and I only finished this because I had already put so much time into it.
Still, I don’t want to give this a rating because I’m realizing that I don’t like this genre and it would be unfair to judge a book that is probably technically good just because I don’t like the genre. I feel like literary fiction, at least considering the three books in this genre that I’ve read, is about bad things happening to good people while the shitty ones continue to thrive. And I will not be picking up another. Reading this book was my mistake and I will be smarter with my time in the future.
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia