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nataliebootlah's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Child abuse
Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Misogyny
kaitlinlovesbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, Death of parent, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Antisemitism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Grief, Violence, Incest, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment
erinwolf1997's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Death of parent, Cursing, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Rape, Classism, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Infidelity, Antisemitism, and Cancer
fr0gsonmushrooms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Don’t get me wrong the book was very well written and I loved the way Rita portrayed Molly’s thoughts. I even read it in four days (although I was literally doing nothing for those four days). However, I can’t give this book much of a higher rating because of everything that went wrong in the end.
Pros:
1. Fast paced so it was able to keep my attention and was a quick read. I struggle with books keeping my attention and due to the very quick pace of this book, I was able to get through it quickly.
2. I like how the main moral is not to give up and to push to do the things you want to do. Molly never cared what anyone thought and worked her ass off to get into college and eventually graduate. Even with all her challenges, she pushed her way through now only as a woman, but a queer woman.
Now the cons: (some spoilers)
1. Around page 132, Molly shit talks butch lesbians saying they are stupid and ugly. When I was reading it, I had to stop and take a second to be like “wow she really just did that.”
2. There was A LOT OF antisemitism. Not just once or twice but sprinkled all throughout the book. At first, I was just like eh, as a Jewish person it’s the basic stereotypes, but it just got worse.
3. In the fourth part of the book Molly rapes Polina. And they just play it off as an ok thing to happen. Molly force kisses her and then forces her on the bed. She admits it and says it’s fine because "she’s drunk and knows she knows she wants it" They did end up together for a short while but it’s still not ok.
4. They just casually mention incest being ok and normal?! About pages 187-188, Molly and Alice have a whole conversation about how Alice wants to sleep with her mom and thinks her mom wants to sleep with her too. Then Molly just agrees with her.
All those moments concerned me. So overall, the book was okay, but I wouldn’t recommend it and it’s definitely not in my tops.
I'm leaving my review as a 2.75 for now, but I think it's maybe because my patner gave it to me. Therefore, I really want to love it as much as I did when I started it, but the cons are really just not okay. Maybe after I think about this book for longer the star review will change.
Graphic: Antisemitism, Homophobia, and Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Incest
oklaheauxma's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Incest, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
adevos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Racism, Antisemitism, Incest, Sexism, and Homophobia
emilybr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Misogyny, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Abortion, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
thaliareads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Death, Bullying, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol
It would take forever to list all the reasons for the warnings I tagged, but it basically boils down to being an unavoidable fact of following a gay woman in a time when being both made you targeted and viewed as less than others. However, to clarify, the author never comes off as sexist or homophobic, it's just a part of the MCs experience. The only thing I'll add is that there is a lot of stereotyping at certain points in the book and I'm not sure if that was meant as a comment on the way society viewed these groups during that time period or if it was the author themselves. To me this didn't seem like it was ever in a way that was harmful, just improper.patchy_at_best's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexism, Biphobia, Racism, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Cursing, Cancer, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization
tinstae's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Misogyny, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Child abuse
Moderate: Racial slurs, Death of parent, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Incest, and Adult/minor relationship