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dark
emotional
reflective
Strong character development:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
whilst it took me a while to get into, I think I fell in love with the characters despite the mistakes they make.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it's kinda like gosspil girl for people that are currently debating wether or not they should get a sugar daddy to pay for their expenses. mostly questionable with some strong feminism sprinkled in here and there.
Ah and also everyone in New York does coke like EVERYONE
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Transphobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Where was the substance? This was nearly four hundred pages and nothing really happens! It took me so long to read because I just wasn’t enjoying it, I'm completely baffled by the hype this book gets.
I kept waiting to read about the way that Cleo and Frank's relationship actually impacted their friends, but it never did!
It's just a variety of characters that somewhat link to Cleo and Frank, with a bunch of additional characters while mentioning a huge number of topics without exploring them much. The characters don't do much except drink and drugs.
The number of characters is huge, some are only mentioned briefly. I did not care for a single one, not even the main characters. They had no redeeming qualities, just really immature and self-absorbed and not developed well.
Shocked to discover it took 7 years to write! I did not enjoy this book, I cannot recommend it.
I kept waiting to read about the way that Cleo and Frank's relationship actually impacted their friends, but it never did!
It's just a variety of characters that somewhat link to Cleo and Frank, with a bunch of additional characters while mentioning a huge number of topics without exploring them much. The characters don't do much except drink and drugs.
The number of characters is huge, some are only mentioned briefly. I did not care for a single one, not even the main characters. They had no redeeming qualities, just really immature and self-absorbed and not developed well.
Shocked to discover it took 7 years to write! I did not enjoy this book, I cannot recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol
Minor: Sexism, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Bad plot with some interesting parts popping up a few times. The only reason that I actually bothered to finish it was to see how the conflicts were resolved, and ... safe to say I was disappointed lol. If the author has focused on just Cleo, Frank, Eleanor and Anders the book would have been more solid, but instead 30% of it was dedicated to side characters. The story of the side characters really didn't add to the main storyline, so .. could have easily been chopped and nothing would be missing.
The author does have a way of digesting hard themes with her easily flowing writing style, which made this book actually readable.
Wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but I am going to see what the author comes up with next 🪩⚡🤍
The author does have a way of digesting hard themes with her easily flowing writing style, which made this book actually readable.
Wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but I am going to see what the author comes up with next 🪩⚡🤍
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This feels weird to rate bc it was compellingly readable to the point where I couldn’t put it down. But at the same time, it made me feel awful and I didn’t really care about any of the characters. 2.25 stars is a reasonable compromise I guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death of parent
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is really well written and includes a really eclectic group of characters, but at times it was just too pretentious and felt like sometimes diminished darker topics like suicide and drug use.
The two main characters, and almost all of the rest of the cast are such unlikeable people - you can only really root for Eleanor and Santiago in my eyes. Don’t even start me on Quinton.
This needed to be more grounded, money just isn’t an issue for people in this book, when Zoe is in debt she has multiple people ready to bail her out and of course the source (without spoiling it) ends up being a really nice person with minimal consequences for her.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this at the time, but it didn’t blow me away or make me think “wow” at any moment. Well thought out characters but lacking the plot I was after.
The two main characters, and almost all of the rest of the cast are such unlikeable people - you can only really root for Eleanor and Santiago in my eyes. Don’t even start me on Quinton.
This needed to be more grounded, money just isn’t an issue for people in this book, when Zoe is in debt she has multiple people ready to bail her out and of course the source (without spoiling it) ends up being a really nice person with minimal consequences for her.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this at the time, but it didn’t blow me away or make me think “wow” at any moment. Well thought out characters but lacking the plot I was after.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide
Minor: Animal cruelty
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Atmosphere: 👌 Largely created through snippets of the characters’ thoughts and interactions, with detailed descriptions of locations peppered throughout in an effective way. It contributes to the overall setting and goings-ons rather than being distracting.
Main POVs: 👌
-a 24 year old recent fine art graduate who presents as carefree, confident, and adventurous but is harbouring a deep sense of shame, depressive disorders, and unhealthy ego. They blame everyone and everything for their struggles. We get to see them slowly evolve and where it comes from in their past
-a 44 year old functional alcoholic and advertising entrepreneur who is successful and perhaps a “charming” drunk but painfully immature and people-pleasing in a shallow way. We also see them evolve and where this tendency comes from
-a witty, intuitive, cynical 37 year old television/film writer recently forced out of their job and now living with their elderly wise-cracking parent
Show’n’tell: ❤️
So much show! Though half the time you aren’t quite sure what you’re being shown, it adds to the story. Like bringing a neon crayon set in an unlabelled package, revealing them individually, then passing them around the class.
Reading Journey: 👌
People-watching on the NY subway from early morning ‘til late night. There will be moments of boredom, confusion, cringing, heartwarmth (?), and laughter.
Great match if you like:
-literary fiction with character-driven narratives that are infuriating, hilarious, and inspiring
-believable outcomes (follows MCs over a two-year period)
-character studies involving addiction, mental illness, and childhood trauma
-NYC party vibes with consequences included
-a sprinkling of randomness
-wrong time and place romance
Vibes: 😅🥺🥴
Format: Library E-book via Libby
Main POVs: 👌
-a 24 year old recent fine art graduate who presents as carefree, confident, and adventurous but is harbouring a deep sense of shame, depressive disorders, and unhealthy ego. They blame everyone and everything for their struggles. We get to see them slowly evolve and where it comes from in their past
-a 44 year old functional alcoholic and advertising entrepreneur who is successful and perhaps a “charming” drunk but painfully immature and people-pleasing in a shallow way. We also see them evolve and where this tendency comes from
-a witty, intuitive, cynical 37 year old television/film writer recently forced out of their job and now living with their elderly wise-cracking parent
Show’n’tell: ❤️
So much show! Though half the time you aren’t quite sure what you’re being shown, it adds to the story. Like bringing a neon crayon set in an unlabelled package, revealing them individually, then passing them around the class.
Reading Journey: 👌
People-watching on the NY subway from early morning ‘til late night. There will be moments of boredom, confusion, cringing, heartwarmth (?), and laughter.
Great match if you like:
-literary fiction with character-driven narratives that are infuriating, hilarious, and inspiring
-believable outcomes (follows MCs over a two-year period)
-character studies involving addiction, mental illness, and childhood trauma
-NYC party vibes with consequences included
-a sprinkling of randomness
-wrong time and place romance
Vibes: 😅🥺🥴
Format: Library E-book via Libby
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol
Moderate: Chronic illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment
Addiction includes alcoholism (and recovery), food addiction (and recovery), relationship addiction/codependent friendships, meth, and heroin fatal overdose . Chronic illness is Parkinson’s and dementia in an elderly parent. Animal death is a short set of scenes involving a pet marsupial that drowns and was left to roam free in unsafe surroundings . Sexual content is consenting adults (though sometimes very intoxicated). Adult/minor relationship recounted a bit by one character from her past. Abandonment theme around parental abandonment/rejection of some characters.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt