Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

11 reviews

autihd_elno's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book quite a lot until the final chapter. The constantly shift POV was interesting and overall I found it worked for me, there were only two or so chapters I found dragged relative to the rest of the book. The final chapter didn't ruin the book for me by any means, but something about the speculative fiction element of it didn't land well for me. Maybe it would have landed better in 2010, but I had trouble buying into the imagined future tech. I also didn't much like the character of

Alex,

and not so much in a like-ability way, I didn't necessarily "like" a good number of the POV characters in the book, but for whatever reason

Alex, or his story,

felt like a let down, or anti-climax for the end of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Mental illness, Racism, and Fatphobia

Minor: Infidelity, War, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Drug abuse

readbycarina's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death, Self harm, Grief, and Misogyny

thyme2sage's review against another edition

3.75

I usually like flash forwards, spoilers,  but here when Egan does it, it hurts

I like this messy way of looking at time though. It feels more true to reality, how we experience time and life

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity

traa's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Violence, Colonisation, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Suicide, Death, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Addiction, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Self harm, and Drug abuse

Minor: Medical content, Religious bigotry, War, Violence, Racism, Genocide, and Homophobia

fraise's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Medical content, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide attempt, Genocide, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Eating disorder and Cancer

gwendle_vs_literature's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

I bought this not knowing what it was — it was one of those “blind dates with a book” where you get it wrapped on brown paper with a vague description on the outside and pay a fraction of the normal cover price. It’s the first time I’ve actually been interested enough to buy one. It was described as “Dubliners for the digital age”, and it lived up to that.

This is an excellent book. It reads more like a collection of short stories, with each chapter focused  on a different character, but the way they all weave together and connect in the end is really impressive and beautiful, and by the time I’d finished it I understood why it’s billed as a novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, and Drug use

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Vomit

One chapter/story was difficult to read because it describes an attempted sexual assault from the perspective of the person who had committed it, so be careful of that if it might be triggering for you — chapter 9. There are other mentions of that event, as well as sketchy situations with sexual relationships between adults and minors, but chapter 9 is the one that’s overtly violent.

emmyinthestacks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Suicide, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

angel_kiiss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

alsoapples's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

confusedmuse's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Addiction