Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Mädchen, Frau, etc. by Bernardine Evaristo

47 reviews

kennie's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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

4.5

This was truly a beautiful book to listen to. It was thought-provoking but also incredibly funny and relatable at times. The way that the author chose to discuss themes of relationships, struggle, race, and womanhood was truly masterful. It was so interesting to read characters that have thoughts and characteristics that I honestly disagree with while also still being able to appreciate where those perspectives came from, because of the in-depth personal background of each character.  It almost forces the reader to think about what is a moral hard stop when it comes to disagreeing with someone. "Can I truly want to be someone's friend if they still harbor homophobic tendencies?" "Do I want to interact with someone who has no care for the wellbeing of others?" It shows you that you will never truly agree with every single thing someone thinks, that you will have to deal with the fact that you disagree. The only minor critique I have is that some of the stories towards the end of the middle began to get repetitive, I still believe they were important because they eventually tied into the world of this book, but something about them became slightly monotonous. But once again, this book was truly beautiful, I would recommend it to just about anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

fenouil's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Homophobia and War

jo_lzr's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement and Police brutality

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury

herownbeat's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Overall, I liked the book. Evaristo’s writing style took a moment to get used to, but soon enough you feel like you’re reading poetry instead of prose. It was hard for me to keep up with the characters, stories, and moments that tie in later. I recommend that you read this over a weekend versus a couple weeks. With that being said, this story is needed and necessary. It gives many perspectives of the LBGTQ+ community and the issues they face. In addition, I appreciate how it discusses the dynamics and differences of opinion within the community. I recommend this for book clubs to have engaging and enlightening discussions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Rape, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Miscarriage, Islamophobia, Abandonment, and Alcohol

thedisabledreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

emilo's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

2022:absolutely solid. i really liked how everything tied together 

2024:
I do really like this book a lot, it’s probably one of my like most favourite ones and i did almost cry. 
i do like bernardine evaristo a lot but she did kinda fumble the trans rep. like using characters deadnames, not understanding why we don’t differentiate between medically and non medically transitioned people, not like completely getting trans women and i dunno i would have liked her to write about more about the intersection of race and being trans, which she didn’t really get. that said for a cis woman she really *got* the feelings of a non binary/trans masc experience, and you can tell she did her research. 
but i think that it would have helped if one of the other main characters was a trans woman because like it would have been good to see more of the diversity of womanhood. and then it’s like why include morgan? like they are only included in this book because they are afab. and they clearly have a difficult relationship to being assigned female at birth and it was hard for them. 

also!! in the dedication of lgbti but not lgbtiaq is wild. like cmon mate. asexuals and aromantics and agender people exist. it’s silly to do the rest of the letters and just forget us. also womyn is transphobic. 

that said!!! this book ends on a conclusion of inclusion with amma encouraging domique to be more inclusive in her feminism and in her lesbian festivals. 
i do rlly like this book and like again clearly the author put a lot of research in esp if she’s not queer herself. 

also!!! why r they all in england??? like scotland is sm fun 

anyway i love this book a lot 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Drug use, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Islamophobia, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

merwitch's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

skudiklier's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-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

4.75

Oh, wow, this was so good. I'll admit that it took me a while to get into it; every chapter being seemingly unrelated at first made it hard for me to keep up momentum with the book, and I read the first half really slowly. But by the end the connections were becoming more clear and I was more engaged with each chapter. By the end I absolutely loved this. It's such a well-crafted story, with so many different types of people from different times and places. I love how complicated and real it felt, and I also loved the way it was written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

mme_carton's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Self harm, Slavery, Excrement, and War

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, and Infertility

leoniefnk's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism