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coralynski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Incest, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Racism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Death, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Homophobia, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
mx_sunshine'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit
Minor: Incest, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Animal death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Car accident, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Classism, and Cursing
philosopher_kj'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Murder, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Incest, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Misogyny, Vomit, Homophobia, and Sexism
Minor: Animal death
eleasofia'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
5.0
i usually prefer third-person pov, but this first person pov was so well written, i often even forgot about it. i loved richard as a narrator. it really felt like a friend telling you a long story - drifting off topic occasionally, going into detail for things that might not matter much to anybody but him. even though he is relatively detached as a narrator, it was very clear how he saw and felt about his friends, which made me love the other main characters - at least until it got complicated, by the ending i had mixed feelings, but i suppose that is exactly what it was supposed to be like. either way, all of them are really well fleshed-out unique characters, so even if you don't like them, you can be intrigued with them. who i liked best fluctuated throughout the story, but i think in the end it's richard and francis for me.
the story itself was very compelling. there were some things i figured out before they happened, but generally i was surprised by the major plot points (at least the ones that hadn't been purposely been given away in the beginning). it felt eerily realistic, exciting, fascinating, but at the same time really relatively mundane, bleak, "normal", like this could have happened to anybody.
i'm glad i didn't read the content warnings before reading the book because they definitely contain spoilers, at least in the sense that some things wouldn't be as surprising anymore. some scenes were disturbing, even relatively graphic, but i enjoyed being caught off-guard.
i'm very much looking forward to re-reading the story. i feel like it's one of those books that will be amazing on the second read when you can pick up on little details and foreshadowing that you missed on the first read.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Blood, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Animal death, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, and Grief
angel_kiiss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An exceptionally interesting book that is paced well up until the end. The third act is slow but ironically rushes in the end.
I did, however, spend the whole book trying to figure out what part of the character of Bunny or the story inspired Mona Awad to write her novel. So far I’ve still made no connection between the two Bunnys to make sense of it. Other than the fact that it’s about to poor kids getting caught up in the lives of their rich peers while at an exclusive university.
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Death, Grief, Blood, Incest, Animal death, Murder, and Drug use
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
jemimaesmee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug use, Death, Murder, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Body horror, Incest, and Suicide attempt
carol16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Incest
Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Islamophobia
lizakg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Incest
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Antisemitism
l0veth1ng'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Murder
Moderate: Incest and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Rape and Outing
carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The only thing that saved this book from being a 1 star read is the writing. The scenes are well-paced, the conversations natural, the descriptions--both of location and feeling--are extremely vivid. Unlike The Goldfinch, I was able to finish this book. Like The Goldfinch, I found the characters bland and insufferable. I really just could not empathize or even sympathize with any of them. When Bunny was alive, he was bigoted and not very likeable. Once he died, I did feel bad for him, but only because I am not a psychopath and I think murdering a friend because they found out you murdered someone else is bad, actually.
I did find myself actively enjoying the book after
Not really that important overall, but was I actually meant to believe that he's in love with Camilla?? I'd sooner believe that he's in love with Cloke. He definitely had much more believable chemistry with all the boys in the group (or even Judy) than he did with Camilla. Just like Meredith and Oliver(?) in If We Were Villains I don't buy it, I really don't. Stop with the forced heterosexuality, stop shoving that shit down my throat. /lh
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Vomit, Incest, Blood, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Classism, and Antisemitism