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miascupoftea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, and Bullying
farricoco's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death and Racial slurs
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Vomit
in the early pages (page 15 in some editions) there is a graphic description of CSA - this scene is not relevant to the plot/narrative of the book. should anyone need to skip it, it starts on the sentence "sometime in the middle of the night she was awakened." and ends just before the sentence "The next day in the cafeteria, Beth felt wretched from not sleeping."flordemaga's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I diagnose Beth Harmon as autistic.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, and Death
merricatblackwood's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Child abuse, Bullying, Misogyny, and Sexism
claudiam's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship
nickoliver's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First of all, the book just reminded me how faithful the adaptation was. I pretty much had the show play in my mind while I was reading, which was pretty nice (and also a bit surprising, since it's been almost six months since I had actually seen it). There were only a few differences to the show as far as I could tell, and most of them were either so minor they didn't matter, or they were positive. For example, Townes being gay and Beth being bisexual weren't book-canon. And even more importantly, in the book, Jolene sexually assaulted Beth when she was eight, and Beth retaliated by calling her the N-word. Both were things that they didn't have on the show.
Just like the adaptation, the book also had its boring moments. The chess games often could be easily skipped. As a matter of fact, they were even more tedious in the book because on the show, I at least got to watch it and didn't have to just merely read it. (Though to be fair, I'm saying this as someone who likes chess enough to know how to play it, but not enough to understand all the phrases.) Towards the end of the book, I actually did skip a lot because I just wanted to be done with it and it was hard. The font was small and the paragraphs long; I just didn't have the concentration or the interest to read every single word.
Character-wise, I definitely enjoyed Beth's voice. I had loved her on the show, because Anya had done such a good job at portraying her, so it was interesting to me to actually get to dive deeper into her psyche. Beth had a very single-minded focus on chess and an absolute trust in her abilities, which was fascinating and admirable. She knew exactly what she wanted and tried everything she could to achieve said goal. At the same time, you could also see that her utter concentration on the game made her appear a bit cold sometimes, since nothing else seemingly mattered. Also, I really liked the way Tevis portrayed her alcoholism and drug addiction, and the way it both helped Beth at playing chess but also hindered her. Personally, I headcanoned her as asexual too, just because she didn't seem to care about sex at all. And the few times she wanted to have it, it was with specific people and only after she knew them for a while. So maybe demi?
Moreover, I really loved Benny. I had also loved him on the show, but here, it was a bit clearer how frustrating he found to be around Beth, who only thought about chess. It showed that being someone who loved her wouldn't be an easy task. I do wish we got to see a less ambiguous ending to their relationship, though.
Overall, it was a bit exhausting and tedious to read this, and I do have to say I probably would have liked it a lot less if I hadn't had the show in my mind at the same time. But I liked delving into Beth's character more and to see her thoughts that the show obviously couldn't show on the same level, and it excited me to see how faithful (to my eyes) the adaptation was.
Graphic: Drug abuse and Alcoholism
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Racial slurs
sarahaf712's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry
pseudoliterature's review against another edition
However, TW// sexual assault, there is a scene in the beginning of this book that is a very explicit sexual assault to a minor, and i know it got cut from the show, but the rest of the story didn't, it left a bad taste in my mouth, and this is full spoilers but it is also an important topic, he used the only character of colour in this book to reinforce a incredibly harmful stereotype, it didn't add anything to the story, it wasn't explore later, it was never mention again, it wasn't something to explore abuse in orphanages, it was him thinking the best way to show Beth's vulnerability was through sexual assault, and he chose the character who was going to commit it, villainized it, and then abandoned it. it was unnecessary, only harmful.
I'm a believer that you can enjoy things, but must also be able to recognize its problematic aspects and critique them, specially when it's straight up racism dressed as "commentary".
I'm not saying you should just ignore this book, there are good scenes in here, but it is also full of problematic things outside the main story and heavily integrated in it.
But that it's also what the book is about, destruction, determination, ambition. The mind of a teen through the lens of an adult man.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit