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I liked the switch to first person narrative for Eleanor - it was like a jolt when she was introduced that mixed up the story, and it also helped to differentiate her from the other characters who were already a part of Cleo/Frank’s lives at the beginning of the book. It also read more like diary entries which felt in touch with her character. It also made her feel more grounded than the other characters.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Cursing, Transphobia, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol
i think cleo is deeply relatable for anyone who's suffered with depression, emotional abuse and/or traumatic childhoods. i really do wish the best for her and i wish she had a truly supportive group of people around her.
as a lot of other people mentioned, it feels as though theres no resolution to a lot of the conflicts. its reslly frustrating but i think its quite realistic. a lot of times in life, you dont get the closure you want or deserve. life just keeps moving and you have to find your own ways of accepting the unjustness of it all.
key highlight is to simply avoid men like frank. even if he does change, it is not worth it at all. i wish there were stronger female characters but maybe thats the point. to highlight if there were stronger female characters and stronger friendship bonds, a lot of the context could have been avoided.
** spoilers below **
i dont think frank deserved happiness with eleanor, not after everything he did to cleo and moved on with eleanor without reconciling with cleo. but its realistic for a man to be what you need him to be only after you left him. and its frustrating and raw and painful for him to have moved on quicker even if he doesnt deserve it. but also pisses me off that eleanor could do that to a fellow woman. her telling frank to go to rome felt so virtue signalling. a lot of people say the feminism themes in the book come off as performative and i dont know how intentional the book really was meant to me but it feels intentional because i think in reality, people are very performative in their actions. i also think the performative part highlights the difficulties of abusive relationships and toxic power dynamics.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Transphobia
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Not only are the characters unlikable, they are cartoonishly bad - even New York is a caricature. Couple this with all the minor characters and subplots that come and go without reason, it feels like this was cut up and assembled from many different books.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt