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shieldbearer's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The more i think absout it, the more I dislike this book. It's literally just "It's A Wonderful Life" but with all the nuance and anti-capitalism stripped away.
This book is obstensibly about finding a purpose and seeing the good things in life, but it's literally just "oh you see none of the bad things that happened were actually YOUR FAULT and you are unfair to blame yourself for them" I would have been fine if this was the result of one or two of the anecdotes but this was the message of LITERALLY ALL of them. There's no nuance here and our main character barely has a personality.
The writer of this book has clearly actually experienced depression, which makes this worse and proves that Own Voices isn't inherently superior. (I'm depressed too so don't come at me, I know what I'm talking about.) This writer has also definitely never experienced any actual money problems- the protagonist's vague thought at the end of the book, after being so desperately broke that they couldn't afford an uber, was "oh, I'll find some money somewhere tomorrow and buy that nice old man flowers." This line alone would have prompted a one star review. JUST FIND SOME MONEY??? JUST FIND SOME MONEY?????
Also yes turning your cat outdoors DOES actually make you a bad cat owner. hate this book, the more you think about it the more it falls apart.
This book is obstensibly about finding a purpose and seeing the good things in life, but it's literally just "oh you see none of the bad things that happened were actually YOUR FAULT and you are unfair to blame yourself for them" I would have been fine if this was the result of one or two of the anecdotes but this was the message of LITERALLY ALL of them. There's no nuance here and our main character barely has a personality.
The writer of this book has clearly actually experienced depression, which makes this worse and proves that Own Voices isn't inherently superior. (I'm depressed too so don't come at me, I know what I'm talking about.) This writer has also definitely never experienced any actual money problems- the protagonist's vague thought at the end of the book, after being so desperately broke that they couldn't afford an uber, was "oh, I'll find some money somewhere tomorrow and buy that nice old man flowers." This line alone would have prompted a one star review. JUST FIND SOME MONEY??? JUST FIND SOME MONEY?????
Also yes turning your cat outdoors DOES actually make you a bad cat owner. hate this book, the more you think about it the more it falls apart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Classism, Car accident, Dementia, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Animal death, and Panic attacks/disorders
cooper_reads_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide attempt, and Animal death
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug use, Alcohol, Self harm, and Classism
cindywho's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt
It's a very targeted demographic "it's a wonderful life" sort of story (30something, educated, white, with a touch of melancholia, cis-woman)
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