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dominic_t's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Based on the summary on the back, I thought I would be reading a book about a lovable group of people who just needed a bit of a push. Instead, most of these characters sucked. They were whiny, rude, obnoxious, and annoying. I couldn't even really root for the main couple, Toby and Leah. Toby's passivity annoyed me, and Leah peppered in some racist comments about her on-again, off-again boyfriend, who is Asian. The plot with Leah and her current boyfriend centered on her boyfriend refusing to marry her because she isn't Indian. She makes rude comments about his culture at different points in the book because she's upset. This is never really challenged by anyone in the narrative. This whole plot was handled rather carelessly, and it really felt like a collection of stereotypes about Indian culture. Also, Toby is fucking creepy. He said he immediately wanted to sleep with a character who was sixteen when he met her. He went into a lot of detail about his physical response to this sixteen-year-old. He was in his twenties when they met. Gross.
The pacing was off for most of the storylines of the different characters. Ruby's chapters just focused on her doing the same things over and over again. Joanne barely featured in the story at all until we got a trauma dumping chapter at the end of the book. Melinda's storyline didn't have enough build up for the payoff to be satisfying. The only storyline that progressed at a good pace was Con's. Con's story had enough detail to be interesting, and the resolution of the plot was satisfying.
The ending was really sweet, but it just didn't feel earned. A lot of development happened outside of the narrative, and we were just given the end result.
The pacing was off for most of the storylines of the different characters. Ruby's chapters just focused on her doing the same things over and over again. Joanne barely featured in the story at all until we got a trauma dumping chapter at the end of the book. Melinda's storyline didn't have enough build up for the payoff to be satisfying. The only storyline that progressed at a good pace was Con's. Con's story had enough detail to be interesting, and the resolution of the plot was satisfying.
The ending was really sweet, but it just didn't feel earned. A lot of development happened outside of the narrative, and we were just given the end result.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Sexual content
Moderate: Racism and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit
Adult sexually attracted to a teenager.
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