Reviews with content warning for Death - Bellies

Reviews tagging 'Death'

prooomille's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.5

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applesodaperson's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

Despite this book being pretty popular online, I unfortunately thought that it was just okay. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I read it in 2020, when I was more new to the queer world. But reading this in 2024, it struck me as a bit cringe.
I had a hard time understanding what the book was wanting the readers to think about the characters. Because sometimes it seemed like we were supposed to side with Ming over Tim, or vice versa. And if the point was to have complex, morally gray characters, unfortunately it just led to me not liking anyone in this book. I thought they were all pretty unlikeable.
It also just struck me as unrealistic overall. And I do understand that this book is ultimately a commentary, but having every character's life resolve solely around being queer just did not feel real to me. Because out of every person I have met in my life, I know that people have more going on in their lives than just their gender and sexuality. And obviously I am not saying this cannot be important to people, but in order for a character to feel realistic, their life needs to be more complex and varied than what was shown in this book.
Also this book felt way too long for what it was. Overall enjoyable though.
Listened to on Libby.

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ccerpa's review against another edition

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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

3.75

what an incredibly triggering experience to end 2024 on!!

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paddy_chh's review

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emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

I cannot remember ever reading about as realistic and relatabley flawed characters as these.

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henrietteterkelsen's review

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emotional 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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san_dra's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

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rebeckareads's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective slow-paced

4.0

A lovely read, although the writing got a bit too flowery at times (which says a lot coming from me!). I thought it was an interesting (not necessarily positive) choice to exclude Tom's perspective towards the end, and also thought it focused too much on food descriptions at times... but all in all, an enjoyable read with metaphors/throwbacks nicely weaved throughout.

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siobhanward's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.5

This was sweet and sad but not my favourite. Maybe the characters were too young and just in a part of their lives that no longer resonates with me. Maybe time moved too quickly and it felt like things just got jumbled. I think it may be a combination of both. I liked Tom and Ming, and now their relationship ebbed and flowed, and I liked the side characters, it just felt like the book just wasn't quite there. I think Dinan opted to zoom out on their lives and over a longer period of time, which worked in some ways but not in others, and that might be where the problem was for me. It was an interesting book with some sweet and heartbreaking moments, but not one I can see myself revisiting.

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