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cyberhavok's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicide
_cararichardson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kenzieburns'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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
jkull_10'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
dee_dreams's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Instead of whining about what I disliked, which is a lot, I wanted to be constructive and offer some lessons I took away instead.
When characters die or disappear, it should matter. The characters who knew the dead person should care on some level (even if it's shallow or self-serving.)
The more characters you kill off, the less empathy the reader will feel for random new characters that are introduced.
Misery is not the same as depth. Trauma is not the end of the story. Focus on the characters' humanity rather than their victimization.
Use writing for good. We already know that evils like misogyny, racism, ableism, and grooming exist. Don't simply portray them for trauma porn. Use your writing to challenge them and provide a different perspective. Nudge the reader towards empathy and a belief that change is possible. Nobody needs more despair.
Stop introducing random, dehumanized sex workers and then portraying graphic violence against them. It's been done to death.
If you've already described a character as "plain, unattractive, never lovely," you don't have to do it three more times. You especially don't have to make the sexist, male-gazey descriptions more disparaging as she ages.
Don't try to take on a huge amount of unrelated themes. Or, do - just decide to make it a collection of short stories, rather than a novel. And follow up on those themes.
Last but not least, think about whether or not a "family saga" spanning 4 generations really needs a chapter about a minor character, unrelated to any members of said family, discovering pansexual orgies in the forest during the Summer of Love. And if you decide, yes, it does, make it hot. Please.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Death of parent, and War
readingsponsoredbybts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Hate crime, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Deportation
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, and Homophobia
madzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Unfortunately, about two-thirds through the book, the characters, plot, and themes fall apart. Lee moves too fast through time, not allowing time to develop the later generation of her characters or the themes she has set up. Instead of exploring the point she is trying to make about life and the world, Lee falls into the trap of focusing on spurts of drama that make the reader feel empty due to lack of time for character building. She relies on tropes that occasionally go directly against her themes and certainly never adds anything to them.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Alcohol
eiireads's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Genocide, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation
tinari's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia
naomisame's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Graphic: Suicide and Xenophobia