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theotheleo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Suicide, Transphobia, and Hate crime
Moderate: Infidelity, Car accident, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Minor: Murder, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization
neverlandpages4's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I get why most people like this book. It’s edgy, it’s quotable, and it discusses important topics. But other than that, it’s a whole mess.
All the characters were unlikable, especially Reese. A lot of her beliefs about what it is to be a woman and a lot of the things that she makes excuses for, like domestic abuse, were just horrible to read about. I know it’s from a place of trauma and hurt but I really didn’t like her or her notions about womanhood and how fragile and submissive women should be.
At one point in the book, Katrina asks Reese “are we playing oppression Olympics?” And that’s exactly what they continued to do till the end of the book. Instead of validating each other’s struggles, they were constantly trying to take the upper hand of “I have it worse than you.” It was honestly disheartening and annoying at the same time. They both struggled so much, Katrina with her background and her being mixed race and Reese as a trans woman who clearly didn’t get the support she needed. But them constantly going back and forth on who has it worst and who wants to be a mother more made it such a distasteful book to read.
I was fully expecting this to be a 5 star read because of how many good things I’ve heard about it, but it was just all over the place. The characters are extremely unlikable, it constantly goes on tangents about unimportant things like the projects they do at work, nothing is happening the majority of the time, and to quote the book itself “The book was deadly boring.” I also hated how it’s left open-ended.
I liked a few things like the writing and how the book discusses tough topics like destransitioning, divorce, and miscarriages. And the cover is beautiful. But that’s pretty much it.
It hurt me to rate this book this low. But I can’t lie to myself or others just because it’s a highly rated book.
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Homophobia
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Outing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Deadnaming, Drug use, Classism, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Abortion, Racism, Death, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Animal death, Car accident, Murder, Eating disorder, Rape, War, Colonisation, Ableism, and Incest
klimatyczny_bluszcz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Homophobia, Grief, Dysphoria, and Abortion
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexism, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Outing
Minor: Police brutality and Miscarriage
brnineworms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Exceptionally well-written, until the ending where it felt like the brakes were slammed; it faltered then just kind of stopped, and not in a satisfyingly unsatisfying way. Still, I liked it a lot.
Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Outing, Dysphoria, Sexism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Abortion, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Blood, Chronic illness, Suicide, Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Self harm, and Sexual assault
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Murder, Racism, Eating disorder, Trafficking, Car accident, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Colonisation
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
- 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
3.0
I thought this book was overall, impressive. It is whip smart, funny, and often heartbreaking. It offers a window into a situation unlike anything I've ever read. The characters are complex and have diverse points of view and the dynamics between characters are incredibly interesting. The writing is beautiful and extremely smart - often a little too smart for me.
The issues I have with it don't necessarily have to do with the quality of the book itself and more with me. I thought that the book was going to be faster paced, and that we were going to see more of the interesting throuple-but-not dynamic than we actually got to see. There is a lot of backstory, which was excellent and told me a lot about Reese and Amy/Ames as people, but not a lot of plot to work with in the present day, which became frustrating for me toward the end. Ultimately, I think that this book is great, and reads quickly despite the slower pacing.
Graphic: Abortion, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, and Pedophilia
kylieqrada's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Abortion, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Infidelity, and Transphobia
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
taleofabibliophile'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Abortion, Transphobia, Infidelity, Cursing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Car accident, Murder, and Hate crime
Minor: Deadnaming, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Death, and Suicide attempt
greydaze's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Violence
Minor: Murder
donutlookaway's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide and Physical abuse
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Murder, Transphobia, and Homophobia