Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

40 reviews

lakeofstars's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

my dad gave me this book like five years ago bc he said he thought of me when he saw it and i think i was so offended bc of the title that i subconsciously put off reading it until now. 

this was an equal-parts frustrating and neat little sci-fi thriller. i didn't put it down once other than to solve the time dilation problem! 


misc thoughts/critiques:
- the first half was very tell>show, but this improved as time went on
- i wish we had more time with romy before the eternity, to connect with her and better understand her loneliness and subsequent excitement
- the fanfics were so short! i know that if they were longer it wouldve impeded on the story, but... a sixteen y.o. w nothing better to do writing half pages? 
- i rlly dont like the juvenile writing style most YA books have... felt like it took away from the story, and made the graphic scenes really jarring (and not in a good way)
- loved the portrayal of mental illness. that is what really made me understand romy's character.

[SPOILER-ISH]
- personally i found every twist Very predictable

and was quite frustrated with romy's naivete, but i understand that... of course she is? she doesn't have the same human experiences with selfishness and poor motives as the rest of us. but also. as someone w paranoia. I wouldve checked those files' physical source Before downloading.

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let's be honest, no way is NASA hiring that guy.

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i felt so happy for romy at the end.

super satisfying ending, but again i wish we had a bit More!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Confinement

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

kayshamarie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Blood

kathygotpugs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

michaelion's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

I love Romy. That's literally my baby girl child.

This is my second time reading so I knew what was gonna happen but it's been years. But the twists! The turns! I still have whiplash!!! 

And to all the baby girls out there, this should be required reading! Master manipulators / groomers use the same tactics J used in this book! Every girl is special and wonderful and need to trust their instincts! Romy doubted herself because she's a girl, because she thought she was a foolish child; but I need every baby girl to know that you are wiser than you realize! You can doubt the world but don't doubt yourself!!!

Such amazing thrilling writing. I opened the book at 3 pm and finished it by 11 pm! Then I went and added several of James' books to my TBR as soon as I finished this. Lauren James you will always be famous!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Confinement, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Stalking

Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol, Fatphobia, War, and Adult/minor relationship

themorrigan43's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

emperor_aj's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Torture, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death

Minor: Pregnancy, Medical content, Vomit, Stalking, Blood, and Alcohol

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Grief

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Murder, Gore, Blood, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Colonisation, Cursing, Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Alcohol

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

So, I read this in one sitting (audiobooks ftw) and... it was not what I was expecting. 
I thought this would be a fluffy coming of age sci-fi romance that I would give 3 stars. And it definitely starts this way with some hints on a mystery in the past and resulting trauma for the protagonist. And then it changes course and goes some dark places. And I mean some really DARK places. I would recommend to check trigger warnings tbh. 
The atmosphere is definitely what stands out. It starts with this lonely every-day routine in space, but it gets really unsettling and creepy. I do like these kinds of plots, and for the most part it is done well. I think the author accomplished what she wanted to accomplish. I just think some reveals towards the end were a little cliché and unbelievable. Oh yeah, you really need to suspend your disbelief for this one because I don't think the space science was super accurate either. But it works well enough. 
Also, the ending drags a little, too. When I thought we're done, there was still an hour of the audiobook left, and it felt like the plot was just prolonged artificially. But maybe it just felt so jarring because the pacing had felt so natural up until that point. 
But yeah, I enjoyed it for the most part. I was surprised, and I liked the themes of isolation and what it does to your mental health. The author also explored some complicated family and relationship dynamics. But some of this was hard to read, so again, please check trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Confinement, and Toxic relationship

teslis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I don't know. This book was a real rollercoaster. 

I really liked the concept of a lonely girl stuck in space and her only connection to other humans is digitally over chat to earth. And that one day it change when an other spaceship reach out to talk to her. Without spoling why I disliked this book to much is to say that the main character is young and being used. I also feel that she is not written as a person who's been alone for a long time and that she is "to strong". 

So to explain it further: 

the first thing is that she is around 15/16, never been in love and starting to talk to the other spaceship. She finds out he is a 22 year old mail and "obviously" start to develop feelings. BUT thats not the problem, the problem I had was how he wrote back to her, like he was falling for her. There age gap felt so wrong and just no. The other parts are like I said earlier, I think she is "to strong". She has this big package of her parants dying and being left all alone out in space, that I think it would have given more to her feelings and how she handles stuff like the lights out. I also felt that it was un realistic for the other spaceship pilot to be the son of those other astronauts who died, and that he would take revenge. How could he be left alone awake when they were supost to always be two. Thats something thats drive me crazy. 

It was some time since i listen to this book, but all I remember is that I had big problems with it :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual content, and Vomit

readingwithmeredith's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Minor: Sexual content, Violence, and Cursing

Sexual content very brief in dialogue/thoughts, minimal language,