Reviews tagging 'Violence'

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

64 reviews

robinks's review

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• 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

I really love Oseman’s work, and this novel was no exception. My favorite part was the amazing cast of characters who we actually got to know beyond the surface through their conversations. I also really like when stories are told alternately through two character’s perspectives, and the length and pacing of the chapters fit well with the ebbs and flows of the action in the book. I found this novel very difficult to put down!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Stalking, Outing, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Transphobia, and Vomit

vampirerat's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.5

First Alice Oseman book I've read. I really really enjoyed it :) the exploration of a parasocial relationship was so interesting and I like how it was a bit like like fanfic of a fictional band. 

I think I enjoyed Angel/Fereshteh's pov more than Jimmy's, though Jimmy was an interesting character too. I was a bit frustrated by how he was treated by Rowan throughout, and how Rowan acted in general (and I don't think this resolved itself by the end of the book). 

This perhaps could work well as a trilogy instead of one book so that the characters and relationships could be more fleshed out? With Juliet and Angel too. But that's just a thought. Still really loved it :)

Lister was so interesting as a character and I would love to read a book about him !!

Also love how seamless/"not a big thing" the aspects of gender, race and religion felt in this. Love love love reading trans characters (feels a bit surreal) and love to read non white main characters. 

Read it in 3 days without really stopping so that's saying something!! 

Listened to this in audiobook form on Borrowbox. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship

readingpicnic's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book is for the gender neutral girlies who spent their childhoods deeply entrenched in fandom culture on Tumblr (or in my case, Tumblr posts that filtered through into Facebook)--the Larry shippers especially. Reminiscent of the show Swarm and the book Y/N by Esther Yi, this book gets into the nitty gritty sides of fandom culture from two sides: the shippers (a dedicated member of a band's fandom who runs a popular fan Twitter for the band and often reads stories about them on AO3) and the shippee (a member of the band who is often shipped with his bandmate/best friend, which causes him great distress). Oseman dives into the benefits of fandom for queer escapism, pointing out how people in fandoms are often queer girls or gender diverse people looking for community online since they often cannot find it in real life. However, they don't shy away from the negative aspects of fandom, such as extreme/toxic fans who take it too far and make the whole fandom look bad (aka the brick incident), as well as the negative effects that fandom can have on the members of the band in this novel, particularly due to lack of privacy: Jimmy being outed as trans, as well as having frequent panic attacks, depersonalization, and s*icidal thoughts; Rowan's personal life being exploited and exposed to the detriment of his romantic relationship, which becomes very toxic and argumentative; Lister's alcoholism, the biphobia and objectification he experiences, and his experience of being groomed and taken advantage of by an older woman at 16 that he hasn't quite come to terms with. Basically, as Rowan put it, they all need therapy. There are some very heavy topics in this book, particularly mental illness, as is par the course for Oseman's books, but I personally considered it a mostly light read that I devoured in very few sittings; the romantic tension/maybe temporarily one-sided crush also had me giggling and kicking my feet, which is the effect Oseman's romances always have on meee. The characters were so lovable, the relationships felt so real, and I'm excited to pore over Alice's social media for illustrations of these characters, which always feels like a treat after finishing one of their books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

pointeshoebookworm's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

anjh's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

• 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

3.75

as are all of Alice Oseman’s books this was a very easy read, the short chapters are just *chefs kiss*. the characters were also very likeable and diverse which is always rly nice to see. bonus points for having a trans character, multiple lgbt characters and a hijabi Muslim! such a diverse cast is so rare in books these days i feel. 

to be honest i found myself not being able to really really get into it because the band and fandom theme wasn’t really my thing but it was still good nonetheless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

chaneoosthuizen's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is basically a whole bunch of representation of all kinds of religions, relationships. Cultures and sexual orientations, wrapped up in an inspiring story, with beautiful writing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug use

Minor: Transphobia

kaywhiteley's review

sad tense fast-paced

• 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

4.5

I was worried about this book when I learned it was about the relationship between a large band and their fandom, but I think it was handled relatively well. I thought the characters were well thought out and developed. I do think the book felt a bit rushed at times, but it is a YA book so that’s partially expected

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual assault

nevermoregothic's review

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit

emmitt's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Medical content, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Grief, and Classism

ju_harue's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Eu amo o universo Alice Oseman, mas este livro foi o que menos me impactou, mas não significa que é uma leitura ruim, pelo contrário, abordou (como sempre) temas bem sensíveis, como as crises de ansiedade e pânico, além de lidar com a saída da adolescência pra vida adulta, os dilemas, inseguranças, tudo mais, com maestria, sempre com proximidade e intimidade típicas da escrita de Alice. Adorei também a parte de ser fã, já que tenho amigas profissionais nesse quesito, nunca é tarde pra se jogar, ser o que se é, mostrar que é muito além do que muitos julgam. Recomendo sempre, como todos os outros livros.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Stalking, and Alcohol

Moderate: Transphobia