Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver

38 reviews

evelynyle_88's review against another edition

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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

Omg... this book has already been in my TBR since last year and I'm glad I decided to listen to the audiobook just now. I love the story, I love the dynamics between characters. It's deep to know that what Liam Cooper through in his life.

Trying to put myself in his shoes and I feel sad and sorry for him. But, this book is beautifully written. I could understand Liam's grief. I wanna hug him so much!

Thank you for this beautiful story, Mason! Gonna deep dive to your other books later! You are a genius!
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kaywhiteley's review against another edition

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

2.0

I feel badly but this book really wasn't for me. The back and forth timeline was confusing, especially when they would randomly refer to the distant future. I thought that, for a book about grief, it said a whole lot of nothing. The parts about grieving a sibling felt unrealistic and distant and I just didn't feel a lot of emotion in the writing. I also felt like the author wanted to go in too many directions and started multiple plot points that just never quite got explored or resolved. I was expecting to love this one since I lost a brother when I was young, but this didn't quite feel emotional in the way I wanted it to. 

Also, I'm not sure if the reveal was supposed to be a big plot twist but it was... incredibly obvious. To the point that I was bewildered that Liam hadn't guessed it yet. 

One more thing, the random ass
self harm/suicidal ideation scene
felt SO out of place and there was no build up or other real mention of it. Just felt so bizarre and written without any other context. 
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niteskyi's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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thebookpaiges's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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martereadsbooks's review against another edition

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  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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vidya_is_vidya's review against another edition

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

5.0

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kyking0117's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

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kie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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giou's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
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atmreads's review against another edition

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5.0

I just… fuck- that was a hard book. I cried, no, I sobbed reading it. Part of that is definitely because of when I read it. It took me 2 days to finish the audiobook. I started it in the morning on my way to school, and that evening my family found out that some family members had died in a car accident. So yeah, this book hit really close to home with the whole pivotal moment being Lee’s brother dying in a car accident.
This is a story about grief and loss and pain and just being so fucked up because of all of it. It was so hard to read, I had to pause the audiobook and just sit multiple times.
I felt so deeply connected to Lee, I felt their pain. It was so… raw. I’ve never lost someone as close as a brother or a parent, but the pain they felt, the things he experienced. It resonated with me so much.
When Lee starts losing his friends and starts feeling like they will always be third wheeling, second best, I felt that pain. The pain that comes with losing people you thought cared about you, people you love and you assumed loved you back. Friendships falling apart because you just don’t see each other, friendships falling apart because shit hit the fan for you and they couldn’t handle it. It sucks, it really does, and even if it wasn’t necessarily about them being a “bad” person or you being a “bad” friend. It sucks, it /hurts/. 
The anxiety it sent him into, where they were worried constantly about what V and Joel thought of him. The depression it sent Lee into where they couldn’t /do/. I felt that in the deepest parts of my soul. I remembered the younger me who was heavily depressed for those same reasons in middle school. Who had friends abandoning them left and right, who couldn’t handle those feelings but couldn’t tell anyone. The younger me who thought friendship was forever, until suddenly it wasn’t. That pain and loss and sorrow is so real and somehow so fresh? Even though it was years ago for me, reading about it in a book made it feel new again. It reopened those wounds, but not in a bad way. It allowed me to process it, and understand it more. I know we all joke about books being a coping mechanism, but this story truly helped me. It helped me get through the fresh trauma of loss without completely spiraling. It helped me to heal some of that trauma I never truly recovered from.
And the fact that Lee is non binary, it made me feel like me and my grief had a place in this story. It made it feel like this story was a safe space for me to explore my feelings. Lee is non-binary and he’s gay and they use two sets of pronouns. And they have to remind people that they aren’t a boy the same way I try to remind people that I’m not a girl. God, Mason Deaver truly writes the best non-binary characters. I don’t think my gender has ever been so perfectly represented until I read their books.
This book is challenging, sad, and painful. It’s intense and very triggering for many. But for me it was worth it, I came out of it with such a sense of, not happiness, but relief. Relief that joy can be found in those hard times and complicated feels. Relief that I can make it through those hard times and difficult feelings.
This book will forever hold a place in my heart, it will forever be a favorite, I will forever come back to it.
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