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nicoleanthony's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Mental illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, and Abandonment
renlikestoread's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
3.5
Take a drink every time you read the word “bowls” ;) JK, I do NOT recommend that!!
The tone of this book is slow, dark, and heavy, so initially I found it hard to get into. This is a book about grief, loss, and isolation, and the author did a great job of conveying those feelings. She also accurately portrays the messiness of Marin’s life following her traumatic experiences, but because of that, the book gets confusing at parts and at other times nothing happens. Overall, the characters and their feelings are well written, but sometimes the story gets lost.
The tone of this book is slow, dark, and heavy, so initially I found it hard to get into. This is a book about grief, loss, and isolation, and the author did a great job of conveying those feelings. She also accurately portrays the messiness of Marin’s life following her traumatic experiences, but because of that, the book gets confusing at parts and at other times nothing happens. Overall, the characters and their feelings are well written, but sometimes the story gets lost.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Cancer
hello_lovely13's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Mental illness, and Cancer
Minor: Sexual content
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, and Cancer
Minor: Death of parent
kefowler's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Alcoholism, and Cancer
decie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
3.75
i have no idea how to rate this. it's beautifully written but unrelentingly sad. even the happy parts are sad. I didn't enjoy it, but DAMN. wasn't in the mood to sob. if you are, this is your book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Death, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
marleysclassics's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Ich habe dieses Buch innerhalb eines Tages gelesen. Der Schreibstil ist einfach und man fliegt somit schnell durch die Seiten. Dennoch gibt es auch eine gewisse Poetik, die mich allerdings nicht wirklich berühren konnte. Dasselbe gilt wohl auch für die Emotionen, besonders die Einsamkeit, die das Zentrum der Geschichte bildet. Ich mochte die Protagonistin, ich mochte die meisten Nebencharaktere und ich mochte die Handlung im Großen und Ganzen. Was ich dem Buch außerdem zu Gute halte, ist, dass die enthaltene Liebesgeschichte zwar nicht die Haupthandlung darstellt, jedoch auch nicht wirkt, als hätte man sie unnötigerweise hineingequetscht, wie das in meinen Augen oft der Fall ist. Trotzdem konnte mich die Geschichte emotional nicht wirklich berühren, Gefühle werden zwar beschrieben, kamen allerdings bei mir nicht richtig rüber. Letztlich würde ich das Buch als durchschnittlich bezeichnen, hätte ich es mit dreizehn oder vierzehn gelesen, wäre das vielleicht anders.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol
bellaj's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
winterdevil's review against another edition
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Doesn't really a plot, but it was short (230 pages) so I read in two evenings. A lot of things were left dangling or undefined, the prose wasn't anything special, the characters were rather limited, but it ends on a hopeful note, and I can't really blame a depressed narrator for being monotonous.
I saw a review that said this book is very much a "character-driven" book as opposed to plot-driven, and to that, I have to disagree. Plot-driven books are books with an external plot that pushes characters into doing something (such as a zombie apocalypse forcing people to survive), and character-driven books are characters making choices that inspire the plot.
This book is neither. The character drives nothing.
This book is neither. The character drives nothing.
Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you go into this expecting an active protagonist with agency... she's literally depressed, barely showers, and avoids her friend and conversation for most of it. Only at about 75% do we see any meaningful action on her part, though the story kinda undercuts why it took her so long to get there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Cancer, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Mental illness
zaraha's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Death, Mental illness, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cancer