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minskiwho's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Grief, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
Minor: Infidelity, Domestic abuse, and Excrement
seadeepy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Pregnancy and Suicide
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Excrement
Minor: Terminal illness, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism
sarahna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Excrement, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The pace of this book was pretty slow, but it did not take me as long to read it as I thought it would. Even though there is definitely some dark subject matter, it manages to feel warm and good to read. The writing style has something whimsical about it even though this is pretty straightforward contemporary literary fiction and I really loved that aspect, it felt very much escapist even though the plot was (for the most part) rooted in reality. There are witness interviews of the hostages sprinkled throughout the book that were often so hilarious that I read them over more than once and they were really nice touch. I highlighted a ton of passages in here to the point where I had to make sure a highlighter was always next to me because I kept finding new favorite parts. Additionally, this book is very much character driven and gives each character, no matter how minor, their moment. A character that seems cartoonishly foolish at first reveals herself to be a smart, compassionate person and a character with a gruff exterior who I thought was just going to be there for filler turned out to be a very complicated person who added so much to the book. The characters were engaging, funny, and human.
Something is stopping me from committing to giving this a full 4 stars and I'm not sure what it is, because it is obvious that I really liked it, but for some reason there is something bugging me and I can't figure out what it is. If I figure it out, I'll edit this with an update.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Sexual content