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thekatreturns's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Yeah, aside from this being a book that I’m heartened is doing well in sales and reviews because its message is so crucial for the world to understand- this is a great book and it is not at all too preachy about said message.
Many other reviewers found Mia annoying, but it was extremely easy for me to get into her head. Probably because we have pretty much the same personality and thought patterns. I didn’t find anything annoying, but then again I am a huge sucker for footnotes in literature. I enjoyed the morphing of her observations
The other criticism I found in reviews of the book was that it went too deep into philosophy and the mystery of the
Which brings me to my final point. This is not a 5 star book for me, and it so, so easily could have been. I desperately wanted to
Also, sorry if it seems disrespectful that I’ve referred to the author as Angie throughout, just a habit in transcribing my previously orally expressed thoughts. I mean full respect when I say that everyone who’s ever been criticized for something they write should listen and learn like she has very clearly done.
Graphic: Death of parent and Ableism
Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Murder, and Police brutality
Minor: War and Rape
murve's review against another edition
4.25
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Graphic: Death of parent, Ableism, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicide
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
The edition I had did 'footnote' information in a jarring and disruptive way to the reading experience. Some whole pages had maybe a paragraph of information to them in an italicized font that was frustrating to read. These thoughts of Mia's surely could have been worked into the actual text as a mark of who she is as a person.
There were a few characters who appeared, did maybe two actions, and then disappeared never to be seen again
This book felt like it was trying to fit several stories into one- Harmonee's story, Mia's dad's story, Eugene's story, and Mia's memoir.
Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Racism, Cancer, and Bullying
Minor: Rape, War, and Suicide
skbat's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Ableism
Moderate: Car accident, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Cancer
Minor: Suicide, War, Confinement, Bullying, Racism, Blood, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Police brutality
iris_cy's review
- 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
Moderate: Ableism and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
jaimc's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
Minor: Bullying, Racism, Car accident, Rape, Suicide, and War
alexisgarcia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Racism, Car accident, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Ableism, Death of parent, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
_david_'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? It's complicated
4.0
The main character shows some bad behavious: making quick assumptions, speaking around a nonspeaking character instead of to them, and just acting as a general teenager. However, the future main character, whose POV we're following, calls her past self out on it and voices her shame. In general I feel like Mia would've made more sense as a teenager than someone in college/uni.
The author's background in philosophy shines through, especially in the exploration of happiness. It's clearly written by someone with an academic background.
The ending left a positive lasting impression. I'm sure I will think back on it often during the rest of my life.
The reason that I'm giving the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because the writer POV often annoyed me with her perspective. I specifically refer to all the moments which said something along the lines of "but with the information I know now, why [odd thing] happened made sense" without any further explanation. It happened too much and sometimes for relatively minor occurrences. It disrupted the flow of the story and was hard to take serious after a while. A small point that I disliked but not enough to affect the score, that only Mia, Adam (the dad) and Eugene were well rounded characters. Hannah (the mother) and especially John were quite flat eventhough they were very important to the story.
Graphic: Confinement, Racism, Violence, War, Death, Police brutality, Ableism, Bullying, Rape, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Car accident, Xenophobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Colonisation, and Mental illness
Minor: Dementia, Classism, Toxic relationship, and Cancer
ncamp214's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
After reading the acknowledgements I was FLOORED that she choose to write a book about a debunked method of communication called FC. While I am not well researched in the Autism or non-speaking communities, from I have read, writing a book on this topic seems to be at best irresponsible.
Graphic: Death of parent, Ableism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, and Bullying
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
Minor: Rape and War
arayo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Ableism, and Grief
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Police brutality
Minor: Rape, Abandonment, Cancer, Car accident, Infidelity, Suicide, and Violence