Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Shy by Max Porter

15 reviews

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

weird, and kinda depressing, but good!
i love how creatively the author formatted the book; it was different and special, and really helped the whole illusion of being in this troubled kid's mind, where not everything (anything) is orderly and pretty and normal.

some sections i had to read twice though, because the vocab threw me off and so did all the references to random topics and songs.

still, i rather enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Cursing, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use

sophiepooper's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Self harm

gh00st13's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Despite my almost-four-star rating, I really enjoyed this book. The reason for my lower star rating is that half way through the book I stopped taking my meds and then could only read the book like it was a rap. Anyways, with that I think I would rate it five stars if I went back on my meds and read it again.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide attempt, Animal death, Self harm, and Drug use

chloeam3103's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual assault, Animal death, Violence, Drug use, Bullying, Mental illness, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Although a bit emotional detached and disorientating, this is a sympathetic book about young men unable to show any form vulnerability, thus causing them to act out in frustration and anger.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Mental illness, Abandonment, Bullying, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexism and Vomit

Be aware of dysfunctional families, programs for troubled youths, depression manifesting into anger, youths smoking, and property damage.

fynn_jls's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual content

michael_richter's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Animal death, Drug use, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racism

deedireads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.75

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Shy is a tiny book that packs a gigantic punch like only Max Porter can. Dark but emotionally poignant, this book will break your heart in the best way. I loved it.

For you if: You like when a book experiments with voice and interiority through typography.

FULL REVIEW:

Whew, y’all. I need to read Grief Is the Thing With Feathers ASAP because Max Porter really just does it for me. I read Lanny back when it was longlisted for the Booker and it instantly became an all-time favorite, so I was very excited to read Shy. This one was darker and heavier, but just as emotionally poignant and distinctive.

When we first meet Shy, a teen who lives at a school for troubled young men, he’s sneaking out in the middle of the night with a backpack full of rocks. The main narration takes place over the course of only a few hours, but we spend a lot of time flashing back through his past — the voices, the violence, his struggle with impulse control and relationships with others.

There’s nobody who can put you inside a character’s head like Max Porter. His use of creative typography (for example, a character yelling at Shy might be depicted by giant text running across both pages of the open book), mastery of voice, and trust in the reader to keep up as he barrels forward combines perfectly every time. For this reason, I implore you: Always listen to AND read Max Porter’s work! Listen as you read along. Trust me, do not skip the audio or print editions!!! (Also, it’s so short. Only 2:16/136 pages!)

This book broke my heart in the best way that books can. Shy has a lot of trauma and struggle. He’s tunneling deep into the core of who he is and whether he can feel hopeful again. Porter shows us how impossible it is to know the core of someone, and that we are all individuals whose struggles are unique even when patterns emerge in behavior. He reminds us how easy it is to forget all that simply by making Shy himself so vivid.

Do it do it do it. Read this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Bullying, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

danny543's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, and Self harm

Minor: Rape and Vomit

staceys_adventure's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcohol, Mental illness, Suicide, Body shaming, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Animal death, Blood, and Forced institutionalization