Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Dangerous Art of Blending In by

12 reviews

emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adrizznook's profile picture

adrizznook's review

3.0
dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Overall, I liked the book. I think the author did a good job depicting the ugly and complicated parts and feelings of being a victim of abuse, I could feel Evan's pain and his fear of someone learning the truth—his abusive home and his sexuality.  The religious aspect of the story resonated with me since I also come from a Christian family, although not as extremist as the one portrayed in here.

However, I do have some issues with this book.

I wish the side characters had more depth; it kind of felt like they all existed to fit a purpose in Evan's story rather than having their own thing. Particularly, I wish we had seen more of his parents, it wasn't until the end when we got a glimpse of his mother's childhood and the reason why she was abusive. And we didn't really see much of his dad either, besides the fact that he was a bystander to Evan's abuse and carried the burden of maintaining them. 

I had the same problem with Henry. He mentioned at the beginning that he missed his sister and that he didn't want to go to college, then all his arc was centered around him being gay and his relationship with Evan.

The romantic aspect of the story was another thing I didn't like. I felt that Henry had a strong savior complex—which led to the relationship and love being perceived as the "cure"—and the whole thing about wanting to physically hurt Voula seemed weird to me since the core of the book is the cycle of violence/abuse. I've also seen people mention the consent issues in their relationship and how Henry seems to put his feelings above Evan's, which is something to keep in mind. 

And talking about violence, Evan mentioned twice or thrice that he didn't defend himself because he feared that he might be like his mother, but then he did it twice: in the school and his last incident with Voula. I don't have a problem with Evan standing up for himself, he had a lot of accumulated rage, but I expected maybe an internal conflict for using violence, even if he was attacked first both times.

About the last time skip, I felt disappointed that we didn't get to see the effects of Evan moving out and people potentially finding out about his abuse. All his big milestones—getting the internship, living on his own, getting a job—didn't have the same level of satisfaction as if we accompanied him through this journey.

Lastly, I sometimes thought the straightforward and not-detailed style that Angelo used made some parts of the book "stiff" and disjointed. Perhaps it's a consequence of him starting the book as a way to document his experience.

PS: Fuck Jeremy, I hated his character and his attempt of a redemption arc.

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emotional fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

TW: intense child emotional and physical abuse (mother against son)

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
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

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challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated

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