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duck1e's review
- 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
The mc Persephone is absolutely spiralling, thinking she deserves her diabetes and doesn’t take care of herself as a result. She’s a grieving, angry, chronically ill 16 year old, with all the complications that go along with it.
I can’t really put into words how this book made me feel except that it was essential. Impactful. Gut-wrenching. I cried. Five stars.
My favourite book of the year so far.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Vomit, Grief, Self harm, Death of parent, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism, Dementia, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, and Cancer
weirdfi's review
3.5
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I won a copy through Text Publishing.
It's a stunning cover, though does feel a different vibe from the book a little I think.
I would not usually do trigger warnings, but I think you do need to be aware of a few as the writing is first person mostly and very visercal and real. I felt a bit faint at times.
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needles, blood descriptions, medical issues, cancer, sex, death
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It felt very Aussie outback and I could picture some scenes clearly, whilst a few others I wouldn't have had as much experience imagining. If you don't like your protagonists angry and moody this may not be for you. I felt I managed to push on because she's a teenager and there's been some pretty big changes she is still adjusting to. And of course, everyone reacts differently as individuals.
For it's size, I just recommend it for how many topics it managed to cover without it feeling rushed. It almost was slow and sedate for the build up to the end.
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Sexual content, Medical content, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
jess64au'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
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
laurxndxx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Persephone, the protagonist, is full of grief and anger and does not know how to control it in a healthy way. However, her biggest emotion is guilt due to blaming herself for her Dad's death. The night of his funeral she receives a diabetes diagnosis and immediately takes it as a sign she's being punished. Persephone is written in a way that made me want to root for her to feel better throughout. It is not until she finds the body of a young woman and delves into her life, that she hits rock bottom and unknowingly begins the healing process. Overall I love that she's a flawed, but loveable and relatable character. I also love the inclusion of information about diabetes and how well it integrated into the story.
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Addiction, Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, and Physical abuse