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greatexpectations77's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Infidelity and Pregnancy
Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Transphobia, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol
cimmalex'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
3.0
Porter was by far the most annoying character to me, and I think it’s very lazy the cheese maker is named Porter. I just have to get that out there. She is almost 40 years old and thought her high school boyfriend belonged to her and no one else (including his wife) because she “had him first”? What kind of mentality is that? Insane behavior from this one throughout the whole book. Very wild.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Dementia, Abortion, and Outing
saskiahill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Miscarriage, Abortion, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Blood, and Outing
menomica's review against another edition
- 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
“And it’s not up to me, Elliot. Your life? Your choices? They don’t belong to me. Neither does this town—not any more than it belongs to any of you.”
Sometimes a lie was more like a wish, or a prayer.
I really appreciated this book because of how it talks about family dysfunction even in seemingly healthy families. The Stricks aren’t perfect, but they do very much love each other. I love how Astrid went on a journey of self-reflection and decided to be better as a person.
All of the Strick kids were unlikable in their own ways, so… good for them, I guess. The thing is though, they weren’t unlikable in a way that made it hard to read the book, but more so in the way of these characters are incredibly deeply flawed and we’re going to take the time to dissect how we got to this point. Porter’s a pick-me looser, Elliot’s a looser with an inferiority complex, and Nicky’s a semi-neglectful pothead dad. And it’s really interesting to see why they’re like that.
Now, the things I didn’t like were: Emma Straub is old and is trying to understand how middle schoolers of the 21st century act and it is very… cringey. Like hen pls don’t do that.
Also some of the takes about feminism and womanhood came off slightly terfy. To Straub’s credit, I don’t think it was intencional, per say, but some of the lines made me go… oof.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Infidelity
Minor: Death, Transphobia, Grief, and Death of parent
klavanger's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Transphobia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Homophobia, Abortion, and Dysphoria
Minor: Deadnaming, Drug use, Infertility, and Miscarriage
linesiunderline's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Emma Straub manages a lot in a relatively short novel, and the writing is a pleasure.
Highly recommended on audio. It was breezy and more-ish to listen to.
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexual content, Transphobia, Dementia, Grief, and Abortion
leahlovesloslibros'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
3.5
I will admit, I was not immediately drawn into this story. I usually don't mind multiple POV, but for the first chunk of this book, I was having a hard time following the story lines. I'm glad I pushed through. Straub had a creative way of weaving characters' lives into each other, not just within the family, but also in the relationships that we see among characters living in a small town. I can relate to this, having grown up in a Midwestern suburb where not many people leave, and often you have the 'everyone knows everyone and their business' feeling.
Another enjoyable aspect of this book was that the author didn't shy away from hard topics. This story delves into many such topics, including but not limited to: homophobia, transphobia, death, death of a parent, grief, infidelity, addiction, infertility, miscarriage, abortion. Some of these topics are mentioned briefly, but many are woven into characters' storylines, which shows their flaws and makes the story more relatable.
If you grew up in a small town, I definitely recommend this read. If you didn't, I still recommend this read. I believe everyone will find someone or something relatable in this book.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Abortion
Minor: Drug use and Miscarriage
There is a brief Harry Potter reference.scarlettreadsbooks's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I absolutely adored Straub’s writing and I’ll definitely be picking up more of her books!
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Dementia, and Grief