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teatales's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I <3 books about friendship. So accurate to the online friendship experience. An amazing narrative about disability/chronic illness and Body Stuff. Also really funny and emotional
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Blood, and Ableism
Moderate: Violence and Animal death
c_serpent's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
Do not listen to this on audio. Too many chat handles. But the fun thing about an ebook is that if you click on the YouTube video, it will actually take you to Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, and it is refreshing to know that people will not ever change.
This was a quick read. It was not hard to read. But it was enjoyable, and I liked it. It was actually really nice to hear Priya talk about her church as like. A positive community of people who care about her. That's what it should be like. Big fan of the lack of religious trauma. (Can't relate 100% but it's nice to hear about y'all.)
I don't have a chronic illness, but I have a lot of friends who do. I couldn't tell you how accurate it is (i mean. Not the werewolf thing, of course.) but it felt respectful and kind.
Five stars for internet girl friends. They are my life.
Total score: 5/5 stars
This was a quick read. It was not hard to read. But it was enjoyable, and I liked it. It was actually really nice to hear Priya talk about her church as like. A positive community of people who care about her. That's what it should be like. Big fan of the lack of religious trauma. (Can't relate 100% but it's nice to hear about y'all.)
I don't have a chronic illness, but I have a lot of friends who do. I couldn't tell you how accurate it is (i mean. Not the werewolf thing, of course.) but it felt respectful and kind.
Five stars for internet girl friends. They are my life.
Total score: 5/5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Ableism
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Self harm
Minor: Police brutality, Animal death, and Gun violence
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
tense
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
Took me longer to read than I wish it had, but that had nothing to do with the book itself. It is a great read with a lot of wit, it is very targeted towards Gen Z and their type of humor and at some points was a bit much.
I really enjoyed it and I felt like I learned a lot about Chronic Illnesses that I didn’t know before.
I really enjoyed it and I felt like I learned a lot about Chronic Illnesses that I didn’t know before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, and Abandonment
decie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
I'm always a sucker for books with found family. probably would have rated it higher if I read the print or ebook.....it doesn't translate to audiobook super well, but it was still sweet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Chronic illness
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, and Infertility
dealingwithdragons's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Animal death
Moderate: Ableism, Self harm, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts
One character in the group chat has suicidal thoughts, butcourtneyfalling's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Lots of reviewers have already pointed out issues with how Kristen O'Neal (a white author) constructs Priya (a Tamil American main character) and her family. Especially because Kristen O'Neal tried to argue this was Own Voices because she's chronically ill which... is not what Own Voices is, like one aspect of a character's identity aligning with yours does not make it Own Voices. Plus we get into kind of mixed territory since Priya has chronic Lyme and the author does not, so it's like... do different chronic illnesses experiences even still "count" as Own Voices? Diagnostic categories are constructs, but recognizing wildly varied chronically ill experiences given diagnostic journeys and labels plus other identities like race is critical?
Anyway. I'm just gonna link this because I think it highlights the biggest issues: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3824728041. Brief media studies/pop culture studies rant, the cover is shitty. No one is arguing that the werewolf is Priya or a direct stand-in for another Desi character. But for the love of God, aesthetically, what this cover does is absolutely juxtapose a Desi character with a werewolf against a highly contrasted background, and that is still problematic! And on a larger systemic level this cover would've passed from illustrator to editors to marketers and not one was like, hmm, maybe this is not appropriate and will not make readers of color feel safe, and that's a huge problem. Like the combo of limited diversity in publishing, limited avenues for editors or marketers of color to really voice their concerns or make substantive changes, and white-audience-centric, profit-over-purpose structures in publishing is bad and this is a good, small-scale example of how it is bad, actually. Please make connections and consider the larger whole. ~Critical consumption~ and all that jazz.
Beyond the other criticisms I've seen about how O'Neal represents Priya and her family, I'll quickly add: they're really Christian and it's not a huge part of the book but it's also not written well at all. It feels very smushed in and there's no recognition or nuance at all around the distinct cultural barriers and biases that Christian Desi folks experience, besides a somewhat throwaway and underdeveloped mention of how they drove a little extra to a mostly Desi church. And it became pretty clear in the Acknowledgements that it's because O'Neal is very Christian and that affected how she wrote Priya's family's religious experiences and I just... do not like how any of this layers onto what is already Not Great Writing of a Desi Character and Family From A White Author.
Nothing else in the story is that great either. Chronically ill rep is eh (fine, not outstanding) but the main friendship between Priya and Brigid can get really frustrating plus O'Neal really needed to read some more perspectives from neurodivergent folks and others most affected by continuing eugenics rhetoric becauseit was all I could think about in Priya and Brigid's argument over Brigid's attempts to "cure" herself via literal poison. Like autistic children are murdered regularly by parents and guardians via similar "cures" like bleaches and other toxic poisons via similar rationales and someone really needed to take a step back and be like I get you are having a hard time, Brigid, and suicidality in chronic illness is real, but this is eugenicist shit . Especially in a book that is supposed to be taking on chronic illness rep well, like that was how it was sold and marketed. And when eugenicist rhetoric always impacts disabled and chronically ill folks of color most!
Anyway. I'm just gonna link this because I think it highlights the biggest issues: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3824728041. Brief media studies/pop culture studies rant, the cover is shitty. No one is arguing that the werewolf is Priya or a direct stand-in for another Desi character. But for the love of God, aesthetically, what this cover does is absolutely juxtapose a Desi character with a werewolf against a highly contrasted background, and that is still problematic! And on a larger systemic level this cover would've passed from illustrator to editors to marketers and not one was like, hmm, maybe this is not appropriate and will not make readers of color feel safe, and that's a huge problem. Like the combo of limited diversity in publishing, limited avenues for editors or marketers of color to really voice their concerns or make substantive changes, and white-audience-centric, profit-over-purpose structures in publishing is bad and this is a good, small-scale example of how it is bad, actually. Please make connections and consider the larger whole. ~Critical consumption~ and all that jazz.
Beyond the other criticisms I've seen about how O'Neal represents Priya and her family, I'll quickly add: they're really Christian and it's not a huge part of the book but it's also not written well at all. It feels very smushed in and there's no recognition or nuance at all around the distinct cultural barriers and biases that Christian Desi folks experience, besides a somewhat throwaway and underdeveloped mention of how they drove a little extra to a mostly Desi church. And it became pretty clear in the Acknowledgements that it's because O'Neal is very Christian and that affected how she wrote Priya's family's religious experiences and I just... do not like how any of this layers onto what is already Not Great Writing of a Desi Character and Family From A White Author.
Nothing else in the story is that great either. Chronically ill rep is eh (fine, not outstanding) but the main friendship between Priya and Brigid can get really frustrating plus O'Neal really needed to read some more perspectives from neurodivergent folks and others most affected by continuing eugenics rhetoric because
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Ableism, Abandonment, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal death
bookishandjoyceful's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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
4.0
TW: Chronic Illnesses, Medical content, suicidal thoughts, grief, ableism, animal death
Priya is a a girl who has had her academic dreams come to a halting stop as she is diagnosed with Lyme Disease and must stop taking courses at Stanford. During this time while she is home she becomes online pen pals with Brigid and starts participating in an online support group of those living with chronic illnesses. This support group takes a turn when Brigid suddenly goes offline for multiple days and no one can get ahold of her. In steps Priya to check on her friend and make sure she is alright, so she drives to Brigid to make sure her friend is alright and that is when things turn in an unexpected direction.
Lycanthropy & Other Chronic Illnesses was a fun listen where I didn’t know what was going to happen next and you were kept fighting for Priya, Brigid and the other members of the online support group. This had a fun twist to it, which would not have been my typical type of twist, but it was fun and suspenseful. It was a great story of friendship, fighting for those you care about and it being ok to ask for help and getting support from others in times of need.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Ableism
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Animal death
tristonleeann's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
It is a great, inspiring, relatable book if you struggle with chronic illness. I am few years younger than the main character and have a different chronic illness, but I could still really relate to how she is struggling both mentally and physically while trying to come to terms with her new reality and trying to learn to cope with and manage her symptoms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Cursing, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief
Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
It might just be the most chaotic book I’ve ever read. It includes a group chat fillies with chronically ill, gen z people that is both a mess and can be emotional when they talk about their struggles.