Scan barcode
adventuresinfictionland's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Runaway train is a throwback to my childhood--while I was a little too young and skipped over the grunge scene until later in life, the nostalgic feel of the speech pattern, the angst, and the time before cell phones and internet was like hella dope ;-) -- while also touching on some pretty serious topics like teenage drug & alcohol abuse, depression, trauma, loss & grief, thoughts of/attempts/and successful (not of MC) unaliving.
Runaway Train introduces us to Nico, Nicole, a 16 y/o heading for her rock bottom after losing her older sister to a brain aneurism that she is convinced will take her young as well. Nico uses drugs & alcohol to cope with the pain, and after discovering some unnerving news about her parents, a crash is closer than ever. Though she self-medicates to numb the hurt, she has one thing that keeps her from losing it all, the 90s grunge music scene that seems to be made just for her. Spiraling beyond out-of-control Nico takes off on a life-changing journey of crashing, burning, and self-discovery to find the one bright light in her life--Kurt Cobain.
The way that Lee Matthew Goldberg captures the crash & burn of Nico, the angst, the grief, and what it is like to be a teenage girl that doesn't fit the social norms of what a teenage girl should be was nothing short of perfection.
***I got most triggers covered in the review but may have missed some. As this does deal with sensitive topics, readers with specific triggers should be cautious before making the choice to read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Child death, Addiction, Drug use, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Homophobia, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, and Abortion
sophieamreacher's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Not my usual type of book but I really enjoyed this. Had me hooked from the beginning and read through it really quickly.
Loved how the story handled grief and anger, plus all the references to grunge music. An interesting look into how music can help heal, as well as the people you meet along the way.
Loved how the story handled grief and anger, plus all the references to grunge music. An interesting look into how music can help heal, as well as the people you meet along the way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, Death, Grief, and Suicide
Moderate: Vomit, Addiction, Violence, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Minor: Blood and Abortion
debosmitathereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Death, Car accident, Sexual content, and Alcoholism
hellalibrary's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Buckle up because I have some things to say about this book.
It’s the 90s and 16-year-old Nico has just found out that her older sister Kristen has died. Her parents marriage is falling apart so she grabs her mixtape, hops in her car, and road trips it from LA to Seattle to meet her idol Kurt Cobain.
Seems innocent enough, fun even!
Voiceover: It was not, in fact, fun.
First - let’s talk about the fatphobia ALL over this book. I want to shoutout @bookishbluebird and @yanitzawrites for educating us (ME) about this topic.
Nico’s sister was tall, blonde, skinny, and beautiful, ofc, and Nico is short, brunette and talked about her “muffin top” constantly. She would grab her belly in a self deprecating manner whenever a guy told her she was cute or hot or whatever. It was literally on every other page.
Oh, guess who the author is. He’s a white man. Of course! All teenage girls want to be made to feel self conscious about their looks when they read a book that’s geared towards them! Of course you can only be beautiful if you’re tall and blonde and skinny!
Let’s also talk about the overuse of drugs and gratuitous sex scenes, shall we?
Remember, 16 year old girl, written by a white man. MAN.
⚠️CW: Sexual Assault⚠️
There is one particular scene that made me extremely fucking uncomfortable.
Nico is camping, she meets a group of teens, they all drink and do drugs, and Nico wants to hook up with one of the guys. Nico wants to hook up with every guy actually. Literally all Nico wants to do is have sex.
In this scene, we hear her thoughts, she’s obviously super out of it, she’s floating in the sky and the next second, oh where’d my top go, etc. Oh, but he asks her, “is this ok?” and she says “yes.”
Is this really what we’re fucking calling consent now?
Am I fucking losing it? I’m genuinely curious about what ppl think bc to me that is not consent and to have that written in a YA book is very fucking dangerous, but other reviews say it was. I’m. Baffled.
I do NOT in good conscious recommend this book.
I do not even know what I’m supposed to do with this book I’m so angry. 🚮
White man. 16 year old girl.
Thank you to @wisewolfbooks for the copy.
It’s the 90s and 16-year-old Nico has just found out that her older sister Kristen has died. Her parents marriage is falling apart so she grabs her mixtape, hops in her car, and road trips it from LA to Seattle to meet her idol Kurt Cobain.
Seems innocent enough, fun even!
Voiceover: It was not, in fact, fun.
First - let’s talk about the fatphobia ALL over this book. I want to shoutout @bookishbluebird and @yanitzawrites for educating us (ME) about this topic.
Nico’s sister was tall, blonde, skinny, and beautiful, ofc, and Nico is short, brunette and talked about her “muffin top” constantly. She would grab her belly in a self deprecating manner whenever a guy told her she was cute or hot or whatever. It was literally on every other page.
Oh, guess who the author is. He’s a white man. Of course! All teenage girls want to be made to feel self conscious about their looks when they read a book that’s geared towards them! Of course you can only be beautiful if you’re tall and blonde and skinny!
Let’s also talk about the overuse of drugs and gratuitous sex scenes, shall we?
Remember, 16 year old girl, written by a white man. MAN.
⚠️CW: Sexual Assault⚠️
There is one particular scene that made me extremely fucking uncomfortable.
Nico is camping, she meets a group of teens, they all drink and do drugs, and Nico wants to hook up with one of the guys. Nico wants to hook up with every guy actually. Literally all Nico wants to do is have sex.
In this scene, we hear her thoughts, she’s obviously super out of it, she’s floating in the sky and the next second, oh where’d my top go, etc. Oh, but he asks her, “is this ok?” and she says “yes.”
Is this really what we’re fucking calling consent now?
Am I fucking losing it? I’m genuinely curious about what ppl think bc to me that is not consent and to have that written in a YA book is very fucking dangerous, but other reviews say it was. I’m. Baffled.
I do NOT in good conscious recommend this book.
I do not even know what I’m supposed to do with this book I’m so angry. 🚮
White man. 16 year old girl.
Thank you to @wisewolfbooks for the copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
booksalabrooke's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Abortion, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
More...