Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Birthday by Meredith Russo

44 reviews

bumblemee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book broke me a little, but also did an okay job of picking up the pieces. Please check the content warnings before reading this book, I think there are a lot of people who will have a harder time reading this book than I did.
This book felt very real, which might sound vague, but I don't know how to describe it better. Morgan and Eric are great characters and their friendship - or rather their journey from friends to lovers - was heartwarming to read. (Eric reminded me of Samwise Gamgee btw, which made me like him even more.) Reading Morgans chapters was very hard sometimes, I wanted to enter the book and be there for her so bad sometimes. If you want to read a book that contains a lot of trans joy, this one is not the right pick for you, even though the ending is hopeful. There is a lot of transphobia, internalized and otherwise and a lot of self-hatred and suffering.

Quick note: Since first writing this review, it came to my attention that there apparently is controvercy around Meredith Russo and her being abusive towards her ex partner. So if you decide to read this, maybe think about getting it from a library or buying it secondhand or something.

Kurze Anmerkung: Es werden teilweise suboptimale Worte verwendet, wie z.B. Geschlechtsumwandlung statt Geschlechtsangleichung. Idk wie das auf Englisch gehändelt wurde, daher dieser Zusatz auf Deutsch. Weiß nicht, warum diese Entscheidung so getroffen wurde, eventuell weil das beim Übersetzungsprozess nicht aufgefallen ist oder vllt auch einfach, weil das ein Wort ist, das zu der Zeit passt, in der das Buch spielt. So oder so finde ich, das hätte so nicht passieren sollen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

ravenk28's review

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

4.0

A beautiful story about a trans woman's journey to accepting herself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer and Racism

sharkgirl15's review

informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

TW for intense suicide attempt. I really did like this book but I almost DNFed with that suicide attempt because I was triggered from past experience 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent

vagaybond's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Racism, Suicide, Addiction, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

howard's review against another edition

5.0

with the YA i've been reading lately it's easy to forget how brutal life can be in high school. this is hard hitting and doesn't pull any punches but at the same time is incredibly tender and sweet. i cried tears of pure joy when Morgan comes out to Eric and his perception of her immediately shifts. i really liked the time constraint of the book and only seeing them once a year, how things need time to change. G-d i wanna hug these kids.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Domestic abuse

thatrandomdancer's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism and Death of parent

vespertilioo's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Racism, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Drug use, and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit and Cancer

bibisuzanne's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

withlivjones's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A book about growing up and finding yourself. I loved the development of both Morgan and Eric’s characters, and I thought the dual POV was very well done. Their relationship as it evolves from friendship into romance felt really authentic as well. The only issue I had was that the pacing sped up quite a bit during the last two sections, with everything being resolved pretty quickly after such a long time spent on developing all the conflicts in the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Violence

phantastic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

Intensely raw and emotional. This book deals with serious topics with the care and realism that they deserve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Transphobia

Minor: Blood