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uppercasenoises's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cancer, Stalking, and Alcohol
Spice: 2/5 relatively explicit sexual content, although only mentioned twice.toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
WARNING: HELLA SPOILERS AHEAD
I did have issues with this one though, which what holds me back from giving it a perfect rating. I don't know if this is something that runs through all of JH's work, but there was so much fatphobia. Now, if the characters were just fatphobic, that would be one thing. Characters aren't perfect and they shouldn't be. Things like Angela saying "your thighs are getting fat" did not bother me because that felt like something that character would say - she's a teenage girl in the year 2000 when diet culture is thriving, of course she would say that. What I had a problem with was when characters in the narrative were endlessly described as these fat, disgusting creatures. There is a character in the beginning of the book, Bernadette/Bernie who is in prison with Georgina (Geo) our protagonist, she is framed as an antagonist and does undeniably terrible things to Geo, including literally raping her, and instead of her horrible traits being focused on...the narrative chooses to focus on how fat the character is. It's....gross. It was really distracting for me.
This leads me into my next problem - queer characters or characters who might be queer are framed in such a negative light throughout this whole book. There is Bernie, who is predatory and a prison rapist (which is not to say that lgbt+ people can't be rapists, but this isn't the kind of representation I want to see, there are enough people calling this community rapists, thanks). There is also another character who goes to high school with Geo and Angela who is a football player. I can't remember his name, but anyway, he might be gay, and in order to keep himself from being suspected as gay, he says really disgusting stuff about having sex with Angela after she disappears, framing the one gay character who could possibly have a decent arc into a pretty terrible person...?
So, while I did really enjoy this, I believe that I have valid criticisms here and I really hope that these things aren't a common theme throughout JH's work because I really do like her writing. I'll give her another chance.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Racism and Classism
beckyremillard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The book does skip around a bit in the timeline without clear context of when it shifted (which I can’t stand) but it was done well. I didn’t love it but it didn’t take me out of the story like it normally does for me.
I didn’t know anything about this book before reading it. Normally I read books that have been recommended or I’ve seen often, but I just randomly saw this one at the library and thought it seemed interesting. I was right, but there’s a lot of heavy material (which is coming from someone who regularly reads dark books).
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, and Miscarriage
_terah_hansen_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, and Child abuse
kbergsten's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
kiturak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood
ldruckreier'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
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
natasha0410'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy
ggcd1981's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Incest, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse
felicia_enesten's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Blood and Abandonment