Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

17 reviews

zo__ish's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

“You’re choosing for another when you make choices. We overlap. We get tangled. You can’t help but hurt.” (233)

This quote from the book is the best way to describe it’s story and meaning. The first half was pretty slow and hard to grapple. I got a little bored but at the second half I really understood what was happening & what the story was about. I loved the ending, though it was very heartbreaking. 

Lots of internal monologue and analyzing of other characters. Choi really plays with trusting characters and unreliable narrators. She is clearly a very talented writer!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual content

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Pregnancy

stevienielson's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Minor: Body shaming

lenin_lover_69's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, and Vomit

moosycakes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I wouldn't really say I "enjoyed" reading this book, although it was very well written. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style personally, although the layout of the book was pretty genius. There were a lot of uncomfortable scenes to read and this isn't a book I would feel comfortable recommending widely due to the topics covered. I'd suggest checking some content warnings before reading if you have anything you find particularly difficult to read about.

I think I'm glad to have read this book, it does have some important (harrowing) messages and the relationships between the different perspectives of the characters will have me thinking about this book for a long time.

You may struggle with following some of the story if you get easily confused, I found that sometimes the coherency of the plot and what was actually happening came second to the writing style and use of detailed description/imagery. While some of that issue can be explained by the writing style being chosen and changed to serve the story and the differing narrative styles, sometimes it went a bit over what would be necessary for that end, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Vomit, and Gun violence

Minor: Eating disorder and Suicide

collinsshaym's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, and Gun violence

leah_alexandra's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was pretty rough. It's tough to talk about my reactions without spoilers, so most of my review is hidden. 

I had been told there was a big "twist" in the book, but I was honestly pretty disappointed. The first part of the book actually being a fictionalized book a student wrote was not as dramatic a twist as I thought it would be. And I don't know if the author meant for the shooting at the end of "Karen's" part of the book to be a surprise, but it was apparent from miles away. The last, very small piece of the book was vague, and not in a way that made it more intriguing. Just added to some general frustrations with the book. Sarah's story was pretty exhausting--it really leaned into the trope of special teens being somehow more mature than their years. I was less frustrated by that piece once I knew what it was, but the second half of the book didn't do enough to make up for it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

adriennne's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm so fucking confused

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Pregnancy