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amberinpieces's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Vomit, Infidelity, and Chronic illness
Minor: Death, Abortion, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Racism, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Fatphobia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy
robinks'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
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, and Cancer
Moderate: Grief, Racism, and Fatphobia
Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Homophobia
jaynovara's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cancer, and Drug use
Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Outing, Infidelity, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Biphobia
readinglitwithbritt'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? It's complicated
Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Outing, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Cancer, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and War
ahskme's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Biphobia, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Death of parent, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Racism
vaniavela's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Grief, Suicide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
devynhinds's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Racism, Abortion, War, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
- 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
This book of short stories chronicles the lives and friendship of Fiona and Jane, two Tawainese women who grew up together and are now trying to find themselves out in the world. They navigate their friendship, relationships, sexuality and family dynamics along the way.
I don't usually have a great relationship with books of short stories, but I liked this one. I think that the stories actually being related and tying into one another really helped. The first story, right off the bat, broke my heart, and I was both scared and excited to read the rest. The stories were all very engaging, but my favorite was "Cold Turkey," which occurs around the halfway mark. I also liked that the side characters who fleshed out the worlds of Fiona & Jane felt complete and real, for better and for worse.
The only reason why this didn't end up getting rated higher for me was - for it being a book about friendship, I didn't see a whole lot of....well, friendship. Fiona & Jane are supposed to be best friends, but in some stories, they don't interact at all or seldom mention each other. When they do. have scenes together, you can tell that there is love there, but it doesn't feel like they should even still be friends - the chemistry wasn't really there for me. However, overall, I did enjoy this read!
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Outing, Infidelity, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Fatphobia, Grief, Death, Child death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Cancer, Alcohol, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Dementia, Trafficking, and Abortion
sydneybedell'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
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Infidelity, Outing, Racism, Suicide, and Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Cancer, Alcohol, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Abortion
krys_kilz's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I also thought the story lines unpacking Jane and Fiona's relationships with their parents were really strong. Fiona as her mother's "own heart, walking outside her body" and Jane trying to save Julian in an attempt to save her father - the complexity and messiness were translated beautifully.
My favorite stories in the collection were: Cold Turkey, Clairvoyance, and the title story Fiona and Jane.
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Drug use, and Fatphobia