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calamityin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Not to mention the way Jared treated Mike. Like, sorry that you feel like you have to keep every single thing in your life a secret from your best friend, but that means that it's not his fault if his problems take up more time than yours in conversation. You refuse to divulge personal information and then get pissed at him when he does? Like, you're supposed to be his friend, and if you felt like you were more of a therapist, you should have fucking said something, not let it fester. And then telling everyone else about his relationship but not Mike, when he knew Mike was spiraling because of Henna and Nathan, is just cruel. He said it's because he didn't want to make Mike jealous, but like, he was already ruining his relationships with his other friends out of a different kind of jealousy and you had the ability to help him and you didn't just because you didn't want to hurt him. That makes no sense and you aren't a good friend.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here's some general reviews. The characters were interesting, although a bit flat. I didn't feel like any of them really grew or changed much over the course of the book.
I really enjoyed the way the book is formatted so that you get to know a lot about the setting, but it is also clear that it isn't the most important thing to the story. You understand what other people are doing, but it never gets in the way of what the main characters are doing.
All in all, I enjoyed the first chunk, but found the latter half and the ending more frustrating than anything and wish it had a bit more of a message to it. I feel like readers should learn something about toxic friendship or how to be better people to those around them, but it just kinda shows toxic friendships that magically resolve in the end because Mike realizes something everyone else already knew. It was a lazy ending without any real resolution to the problems it brought up. Not the mention the way a 19-year-old high schooler is casually dating a 25-year-old doctor and nobody sees this as weird.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Car accident, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Self harm, Body horror, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Police brutality
Minor: Blood, Infidelity, Death, Fatphobia, and Medical content
styxx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Blood, Police brutality, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Animal death, Dementia, and Mental illness
saintyeehaw'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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Chronic illness, Dementia, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Cursing, and Grief
Minor: Biphobia, Gaslighting, Police brutality, War, and Alcohol
booksthatburn's review against another edition
Graphic: Mental illness and Self harm
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Ableism, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Dementia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, and Gore
Minor: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Vomit, and Excrement
ranjanireviewsreads'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Sexual content
meagangrace'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Death, Cursing, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Grief, and Body shaming
goldilocks37070's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Eating disorder and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts