Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

6 reviews

gwenswoons's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I thought this was mostly pretty terrible despite having plenty of memorable and fun characters. The writing felt so repetitive and the sort of mishmash of genres and plots felt so jumbled and clunky. The second-chance love story itself was less painful to me than the rest of it and I think I could have for sure tolerated a simple Nathan and Meddy rom-com! But the murdery cover-up stuff (despite moments of humor with the aunts) is so muddled — we’re supposed to be ok with the fact that they killed this dude because he was a predator? Like, sure, I’m on board for that, but also how are we laughing about that? It’s just like…not funny?? (This aside from the fact that I don’t actually feel like I would read this as a murder to begin with, tasing someone who’s about to assault you?? So like…the entire premise flopped for me?)

Anyway. I found myself wishing the writing and structure of this were much better so I could actually follow up and read more about the characters (many of whom I actually liked on a basic level). But I couldn’t tolerate it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

katrinalamothe's review

adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.75

Despite the number of potential trigger warnings, this book is NOT what meets the eye and was quite the entertaining read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

caitlinemccann's review

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.0

Had me giggling and kicking my feet like a DCOM but with more swearing, murder, and family anxiety.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Car accident, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism and Vomit

neverlandpages4's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Drug abuse, and Toxic relationship

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• 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

4.0

I really enjoyed the plot of this book, and I think I'd read another, even though the writing wasn't my fave. It was very conversational, which is totally accessible and fun and makes for a nice relaxing read. It's just not as much my jam. But I love a good love story, and I really liked the peak into this very female-driven world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

decklededgess's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

• 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

trigger warnings: date rape and assault, car crash, accidental manslaughter, suffocation, divorce, toxic partners, kidnapping and gunpoint, alcohol use, drug use

This book was a fever dream in a good way. I never liked those weird slapstick murder comedies where everything went wrong but maybe I just needed to read/watch one where the characters aren't white and already absolved from guilt by the law simply because they're white. The anxiety of being found out and actual steep consequences occuring really added to the absurdity of how blaise Meddy's mother and aunts were. This book was so fucking enjoyable and I cannot believe there's a whole other book. I don't know what the fuck is happening in that one but the excerpt at the end of this was already wild enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, and Vomit