Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

So Happy for You by Celia Laskey

7 reviews

rachaelwho's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Gosh. Parts of this were so, so good. And parts of it were a huge mess-- over-explained, on-the-nose in a way that didn't seem arch or intentional, overwrought. You could see the wires in a bad way, especially with the unrealistic oversharing body/toilet stuff that she clearly REALLY wanted to work in, but I was kinda ready to forgive that bc the overall story was fun and clever. But then the last three or so chapters were a real disappointment. I think this book was maybe doing too much and it got away from her. I hope her next one is tighter, she can write and is really creative! I wanted to like the whole book as much as I liked most of the beginning, even the first 2/3 maybe, and it bummed me out to cool on it in the end.
Also, for all its handholding, I'm not sure the book managed to say "patriarchy" a single time, which beggars belief-- both bc Robin would absoLUTELY say it and bc it's clearly on the author's mind and she is so very not above beating a dead horse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Abortion, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Blood

Minor: Vomit and Abandonment

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abortion, Cursing, Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Excrement, Alcohol, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Murder, and Blood

pey333's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Animal death

Moderate: Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Sexism

Minor: Abortion and Cultural appropriation

callisto_ursus's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Abortion and Mass/school shootings

imstephtacular's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Abortion

Minor: Vomit, Religious bigotry, Racism, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, and Infidelity

clairebonney's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Animal death

Detailed description of rabbit death at the end of chapter 17

sophiareads_'s review

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings: homophobia, violence, attempted murder, animal death, abortion (mentioned) 

 

Robin's childhood best friend asks her to be her maid of honour. Though their society is marriage-obsessed, and Ellie, the bride-to-be feels similarly, Robin's ideological opposition to the institution of marriage makes it a difficult decision. Despite her reservations, Robin agrees to be the maid of honour, but when the bridal party festivities begin, things begin to take a sinister, dangerous tone. 

 

What an absolute wild ride this book was. It was a quick read for me, and I did really enjoy it, despite (maybe because?) it was so off the wall. Though the novel is a thriller, the narrative for most of the book bounces between the day-to-day of the lead up to Ellie's wedding and flashbacks to other points in Robin's life to give the reader more context. This definitely slows the pace of the book down, which I think was a smart decision - and when its time for us to be in the fast-paced finale, this is dropped, which makes sense. I was a little confused about the setting for most of the book (modern times of a near future dystopia inspired in part by recent abortion restrictions in some US states?). However, as talk of wedding charms ramped up, it became clear it was the latter, but I thought the plentiful modern pop culture/political references confused this a little bit. I also thought some of the political points which are made throughout the novel (despite fully agreeing with them) to be a tad on-the-nose, but this wasn't too majorly off-putting or anything. I'm also notoriously nitpicky about how lesbian characters' sexualities are portrayed, and I really liked this aspect of the book. 

 

All in all, this was a really interesting read. Equal parts funny and series at times, I think it's a really solid novel, and I'd definitely recommend it to fans of unhinged women being unhinged. 

 

Thanks to Celia Laskey, NetGalley, and HQ for the eARC of So Happy For You. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Abortion