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cfdurham'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
arihana'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
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
lhaen'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: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
cowardlyteaman'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
I absolutely love the way these characters are built, to be honest. They all got on my nerves at different points, but I still cherished all of them. I really like it when flawed characters.🫶
Willem is wonderful, of course, but not perfect? He makes mistakes! He's selfish, even. Delusional, at points.
Jude has been through — more than most, to say the least. And to be completely frank, it gets old after a while. I get tired of hearing about his problems, and I get tired of reading about him falling into the same patterns over and over again. However, I'm sure he's just as tired as I am. Or far more, probably. When I realised this, it became easier to empathise with his character.
JB is such a wonderfully flawed character. He made me wince with second hand ... not even embarrassment, just pain. I love him, even if he's a crown dick at multiple points during the book.
Malcolm is just there, honestly. Emotional support architect. But I do love a homosexual who never manages to admit it.
However, there comes the problem ... that there is no plot. There is no plot whatsoever. There is no end goal, no ambition the characters have for the future. They just are.
Hadn't it been for the fact that I annotated and analysed this book (just for hobby), then I might have quickly discarded it...
The events are short and repetitive, and soon become extremely predictable.
Moving on to something slightly more off-track... the names.
Jude St. Francis is such a great name for a character. I love it so much. Fits him so well.
Willem Ragnarsson, however. Eh. As a Nordic person myself, I have to say that I'm a bit confused. He has a Danish mother and an Icelandic father who gave their son a Dutch name? It's by no means impossible, but William or Vilhjálmur or Wilhelm would've just made more sense? Don't even get me started on the fact that these two Swedish-speaking parents named their severely disabled son Hemming. In Norwegian (which in all honesty is not much different from Swedish), «hemming» means handicap. Hämning /hem-ning/ in Swedish. While I'm sure the author had no intention of this, it jus seems absolutely ridiculous of them to name their child eith cerebral palsy Hemming. Not to mention that no-one's fucking named that in Denmark, Sweden, or Iceland.
That was my rant. It was worth it, despite the occasional drags of COMPLETELY irrelevant information.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
santagus'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
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
peppyb'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Biphobia and Infidelity
garrusvakarian'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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
binderjo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
laurengeorgia'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
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
heymagnolia'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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship