Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden

5 reviews

nerp's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

God, this book. The first half-hour had me almost in tears. A powerful, compassionate look at childhood poverty, emotional abuse, school bullying, and finding your voice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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

4.75

This is such a super good book to introduce the really hard issues of classism and gun control and domestic violence. It's so beautifully written, and my heart really hurt for Zoey, who was dealing with so so much when her job should have been just to get through middle school. I'd absolutely read Ms. Braden again, and I'd definitely buy this book for the young folks in my life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, and Homophobia

Minor: Addiction and Drug abuse

rachaelbunny's review

challenging emotional inspiring sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Classism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Homophobia, Addiction, and Drug abuse

corriejn's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I think this could have been a better middle-grades book, but it tried to do a bit too much.

The main character is a middle school girl in a Vermont, growing up in poverty; her family had previously been homeless at times, she and her siblings have 3 different fathers (the first 2 not in the picture) and are living with her mom's current boyfriend/the father of the youngest sibling, who is very controlling but emotionally abusive but provides a somewhat more financially stable living situation. That could be the core of the story-- the stresses of growing up in poverty, how she is treated by classmates, the strain of having to put up with bad living situations due to financial limits. But there are all these additional themes that the author tried to toss in as well, but of course didn't have space to deal with any of them well: hunting and gun rights debates, police brutality against Black Americans (via a token black classmate whose sole contribution to the story is to occasionally voice concerns related to being Black), foster care, alcoholism, school shootings/lockdowns, whether it's ok for boys to cry, and the treatment of the school "loner" to whom other kids assign sinister intentions. Whew. Oh and another threatening a child with violence. Throw in a fairly flat character of a teacher who takes interest in the main character (for pretty unclear reasons, the student reminds the teacher of herself) and takes her under her wing, offering pithy advice that it's unclear how the main character actually applies. Oh and don't forget the mom's gay work friend, whom her boyfriend hates with a passion for unknown reasons (the main character speculates that she isn't sure if it's because that friend is gay, or some other reason).

It ends up being a bit of a grab-bag of "real life hard topics" while not doing justice to most of them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mass/school shootings

Minor: Alcoholism, Police brutality, Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Racism

brunk's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Listened to the audiobook with my niece, it led to important conversations about some tough things she's experienced and about healthy relationships.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Gun violence and Misogyny

Minor: Addiction