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fkshg8465'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: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Suicide, Grief, Self harm, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Death
savvylit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Highly highly recommend this to anyone who is willing to read such a deeply sad yet moving story.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
abbruzzese's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
She says isn’t it funny how every second, every minute, every day, month, year, is accounted for, capable of being named—when time, or life, is so unwieldy, so intangible and slippery? This makes her feel compassion toward the people who invented the concept of “telling time.” How hopeful, she says. How beautifully futile. How perfectly human.
another winner from miriam toews! it did not do to me emotionally what a complicated kindness or irma voth did, but it is still a fantastic book. i think what kept me from fully connecting to the story was just the age of the characters; being a 20 means i find it hard to relate fully to adults. however, that did not prevent me from crying all my mascara off.
a warning for anyone sensitive to suicide: this book has a lot of it. it's a main theme, written explicitly at times, and it's unavoidable. so just a heads up if you're wary about that kind of stuff!
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Grief, Medical content, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, and Sexual content
Minor: Eating disorder
vanesst's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Sexual content
rieviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
There were parts, here and there, that I liked but I felt as if the narration lost itself along the way; some sections I found very slow or just plain weird and nonsensical.
I struggled with the writing style the most, I think it is just a case of it not being my cup of tea. I found it confusing, a bit all over the place, I could not get used to it, especially the way the dialogues were integrated into the text and not signalled by punctuation.
Getting into it, I knew the book would deal with difficult and heavy topics, it's not as if I was expecting a lighthearted reading experience but still, it was a lot more graphic than I expected and at times unnecessarily so. If suicide is a difficult topic for you to read about, I suggest being kind to yourself and staying away from this book altogether.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death, and Medical content
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Cancer, and Murder
brookebatesratesbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicide
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, and Eating disorder
danidamico's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
También me gustó muchísimo la voz narradora de Yoli, me terminé encariñando con ella y me sentí identificada en ciertas cosas. Es un personaje complejo que resulta muy realista en su caos, su forma de ser y de lidiar con la enfermedad de su hermana. El elenco de personajes secundarios me pareció espectacular, sobre todo Lottie, la madre de las protagonistas.
Ahora lo que no me gustó tanto: debo admitir que se me hizo un poco largo. Disfruté de la mayoría de las digresiones, no me molestan como a otres lectores, pero sí creo que el libro podría haber terminado antes o que se podrían haber recortado ciertas partes para hacerlo más dinámico más allá de la sensación de repetición que tiene que ver con el abordaje de las enfermedades mentales. En fin, es una cuestión de opinión personal.
Edit 4/3/2023: Subí el puntaje de un 4 a un 4.5 porque cada tanto vuelvo a pensar en esta novela y me doy cuenta de que me encantó.
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
dannythestreet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Addiction, and Drug use