Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Bellies by Nicola Dinan

10 reviews

ccerpa'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

3.75

what an incredibly triggering experience to end 2024 on!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Classism

kers_tin's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Racism, Transphobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

yleavy's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

2.25

Some sweet moments, and I can see why people like this book. The characters all have moments of charm in that “uni student who thinks they are quirky” sort of way. The dialogue felt like it was coming from an afterschool special, with the characters using therapy words or helping each other reach a profound revelation in every conversation. Without the tense changes, the characters’ POVs would be difficult to tell apart, and the analogies were often more distracting than fitting. Examples include “our tongues shook hands” and “my heart grows thicker”. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Deadnaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Transphobia, Vomit, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

anaheeta's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

This felt like reading a memoir, I mean that in the sense that all characters and events and feelings were so fleshed out that it felt like I was reading about the people through their own minds. It was emotional and heartbreaking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Mental illness, Transphobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Infidelity, Dementia, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Dementia and Death of parent

libraryoflanelle's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

I adored this book with all my heart. It easily became a new favourite. 

I finished 'Bellies' in almost one sitting, and it absolutely consumed me. I fell in love with these characters in record time and felt all of their emotions right along with them. Nicola writes these characters in such a way that you immediately feel like you yourself are part of their little chaotic but loving found family. I truly cried, laughed out loud, and kicked my lil’ feet through this book.

I went into this one knowing almost nothing, and I would highly recommend you do the same if it is safe for you to do so. I have included content warnings in my StoryGraph review as always, so just make sure you’re safe. If you’ve been debating picking this one up, consider this your push.

I borrowed this one from the library - shout out to local libraries - so will definitely be buying a copy asap, as I know this will be one that I come back to in future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit, Dementia, and Alcohol

alexgo's review against another edition

challenging

• 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

Moderate: Death, Transphobia, and Grief

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

hannah_mariee's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Transphobia, Car accident, Outing, and Alcohol

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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: Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

evfav's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

4.0

I was completely engrossed in this book, I’ve never finished anything so quickly because I was always wanting to pick it up and every time I did I got lost in it’s pages for hours at a time. This story broke my heart in all the ways I expected and some more that I didn’t. Every character revealed vulnerability and depth and felt so real. The way Tom and Ming’s relationship developed felt so natural and warmed and broke my heart. This was an amazing story about self discovery, learning to love yourself, and the hardships of growing into a chaotic world, but it was always grounded in the important lasting friendships. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Terminal illness