Scan barcode
micaelacccc's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Alcoholism
toofondofbooks_'s review
- 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: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcoholism, Ableism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Biphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Acephobia/Arophobia
alexelli'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
3.75
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
jessiiiru'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
4.75
Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
josieruby1's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, and Alcohol
wallaru's review
- 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
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia and Homophobia
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Homophobia, Ableism, and Lesbophobia
Books that make you think about buying oatmeal bodywashtakidodo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Biphobia, Vomit, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
infjkiki's review
- 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
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness
Moderate: Vomit, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault
bexi'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? It's complicated
4.0
As someone who has chronic depression and OCD (and likely an undiagnosed anxiety disorder), it was so nice to see the topics handled respectfully. Obviously I can't speak for an entire community because there are different types of depression/OCD/anxiety and people have different experiences, but generally speaking I thought it was accurate. I cried multiple times while reading this because I felt so seen, especially in regards to depression.
My favorite part of the book was how the author explored neurodivergency and love. My disorders have definitely made me feel unworthy of love, just like the main characters--and that includes platonic and familial love, not just romantic. It's so important for neurodivergent people to experience stories where the characters are loved not despite their disorders but are loved and accepted for who they are as a whole. 💜
Graphic: Mental illness and Ableism
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Racism and Cursing
thesawyerbean's review against another edition
- 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
The writing was tender, but at the same time vivid, intense, gorgeous. The way they described each other was stunning, truly some of the best I’ve seen to properly portray love:
“In this moment, in this light, his eyes remind Charlie of the dark wood Mendini violin he played in his high school orchestra, almost black around the strings, a well-loved umber brown on the edges of the lower bout. He loved that secondhand violin.”
An aspect I adored about this book was the amount of valuable representation in its characters and themes. Queer identities, a range of ethnicities, mental health discourse - all lovingly and sensitively included in a way that was uplifting and celebratory. The discussions on what it means to be queer were so affecting for me:
“Labels can be nice sometimes. They can give us a language to understand ourselves and our hearts better. And they can help us find a community and develop a sense of belonging.”
The mental health discourse and the imperative emphasis on looking after your needs was such an important one to depict. Charlie learns to deal with and accept his OCD and anxiety diagnoses. Dev suffers with depression, and Cochrun does a fantastic job of describing the emotions and the despair in a poignant way.
“Burning that bright and that fiercely must be exhausting; no one can sustain it forever. Charlie wishes he could tell Dev it’s okay to flicker out sometimes. It’s okay to tend to his own flame, to keep himself warm.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this. It felt so cozy and loving; the characters were extremely endearing, the story was high stakes, tense, thrilling and fundamentally delightful. I will leave you with a fabulous quote that makes me feel warm inside:
“He didn’t know it was possible to love Dev more, for love to become a bottomless well inside of him he could spend his whole life filling. Coming together with Dev in this new way makes the well inside of him pour over. It feels like an unzipping of his skin, as if he’s stepping outside this costume version of himself to become his actual self—that he’s discovering something true buried so deep he thought he would never reach that person, but there he is, and Dev is with him, holding his hand, guiding him through.”
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Outing, Vomit, Alcohol, Biphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Lesbophobia