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emilyb_chicago's review against another edition
3.75
As I'd expect form Patrick Ness, the world is built gently and completely within the story and the writing was propulsive and fun. Adults and middle graders and everyone between will enjoy this one, though there are some bigger teen topics that some parents should review before handing to younger readers.
Graphic: Alcoholism and Eating disorder
Moderate: Sexual content
mimidae'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
4.0
some tws for ed, ocd, depression, some violence; overall i enjoyed it a lot. i've been struggling to find good rep on ocd and this satisfied that :>
edit: i read some other reviews and saw people were disappointed with the lack of a defined plot (the major plot was happening to the indie kids) or general action, and the abundance of dialogue, but honestly i felt that was the strong point of the book and what made me keep reading. i enjoy these kinds of slower books where the characters spend a lot of time thinking and talking and interacting with each other, because. that's how real life is. i spend a lot of time in my own head and it was really nice to see a character that does the same. the interactions between the friend group were really nice and i loved learning diff things abt each character (jared esp was very lovable).
i am very big on character dev/interactions and realistic portrayals of people and their mental health struggles. i think maybe the only gripe i had was not getting to learn more about nathan (the jared-nathan relationship felt rushed, i wish it was explored more) and i was pretty sad abt jared having to go after four years. i did think it was cool to see mikey refuse jared's offer to heal his ocd :) because i get it honestly (i expected him to take the offer and was extremely relieved when he didn't because it felt more realistic that way).
Moderate: Eating disorder
luc3sca'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
4.25
the ending chapters did give me major FOMO though 😭, the graduation hurt my heart because I don’t get to graduate high school with my friends </3.
Moderate: Violence, Alcoholism, and Eating disorder
Minor: Animal death
sweetstar229'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: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death
Moderate: Alcoholism and Eating disorder
Minor: Child death
catcervone's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Addiction and Eating disorder
jpalms0626's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Car accident, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts
sallytiffany's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Violence and Car accident
Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Child death, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Cancer
vincentedward16'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Dementia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Dementia
Minor: Gore, Medical content, Body shaming, Death, Police brutality, and Cancer
calamityin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Not to mention the way Jared treated Mike. Like, sorry that you feel like you have to keep every single thing in your life a secret from your best friend, but that means that it's not his fault if his problems take up more time than yours in conversation. You refuse to divulge personal information and then get pissed at him when he does? Like, you're supposed to be his friend, and if you felt like you were more of a therapist, you should have fucking said something, not let it fester. And then telling everyone else about his relationship but not Mike, when he knew Mike was spiraling because of Henna and Nathan, is just cruel. He said it's because he didn't want to make Mike jealous, but like, he was already ruining his relationships with his other friends out of a different kind of jealousy and you had the ability to help him and you didn't just because you didn't want to hurt him. That makes no sense and you aren't a good friend.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here's some general reviews. The characters were interesting, although a bit flat. I didn't feel like any of them really grew or changed much over the course of the book.
I really enjoyed the way the book is formatted so that you get to know a lot about the setting, but it is also clear that it isn't the most important thing to the story. You understand what other people are doing, but it never gets in the way of what the main characters are doing.
All in all, I enjoyed the first chunk, but found the latter half and the ending more frustrating than anything and wish it had a bit more of a message to it. I feel like readers should learn something about toxic friendship or how to be better people to those around them, but it just kinda shows toxic friendships that magically resolve in the end because Mike realizes something everyone else already knew. It was a lazy ending without any real resolution to the problems it brought up. Not the mention the way a 19-year-old high schooler is casually dating a 25-year-old doctor and nobody sees this as weird.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Car accident, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Self harm, Body horror, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Police brutality
Minor: Blood, Infidelity, Death, Fatphobia, and Medical content
nmwolfe's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Mental illness, and Eating disorder