Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Diary of an Oxygen Thief

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous

52 reviews

katreads6's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Interesting to see in the mind of a narcissist, but very slow and pretty boring. You’re grabbed in by the first lines of the book, but it goes away shortly after. It’s not fiction and the authors true story, but didn’t hold up to the grab the first lines/pages held.

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sashaq's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

Main character is trash. All he does is complain and tell you a rambling story about how he got his comeuppance. I think we are supposed to feel bad for him but truly the only delight in this book is when he is truly suffering. He is a bad person who needs therapy.

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gymnesa's review against another edition

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dark slow-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

2.25

Book is just very slow and writing style just not my taste. Had some very interesting aspects however and opened my eyes on a few things about people and relationships. Not a bad book just not my cup of tea style wise.

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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective slow-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

2.75

lots of potential, average execution.

i picked this up because i saw a youtube short that basically said something along the lines of "i'm halfway through this book and i feel sick" backdropped by a picture of the first page, adorned with the very eye-catching first sentence:

i liked hurting girls.

i was intrigued, because i'm a fan of all things dark, disgusting, disturbing, mental.

and the first third was quite good, actually - funny (the narrator taking the "pith" out of someone's "lithsp" was probably the funniest thing i've read in a book ever) and cynical; the reader absolutely appalled by the narrator and yet being met with smart and relatable quotes, self-aware, realistic observations about life and the relationships we choose to fill it with.

but all of that sort of got lost as the story progressed: the narrator becoming an emblem in AA (alcoholics anonymous), getting a good job, fretting about the future, describing his boring and mid-life-crisis way of living, and tiring everyday life.
halfway through, this turned into some sort of self-pitying self-help book written by a touch-deprived middle-aged man.

and the thing with aisling, right...
the thing we've been waiting for since page one.

it was just silly. i didn't pity the narrator and i also didn't understand what her strategy was supposed to be. it didn't have any impact, wasn't surprising, wasn't brutal at all (which is what i'd desperately hoped for).

it was nothing.

infuriating, considering i read 140 slow and excruciating pages to get to this point just to be disappointed like every girl the narrator fooled back in his prime time. (ironic, if you think about it.)

yeah, i just expected something a little different. i wanted disgusting, unhinged. i wanted another humbert humbert (shame on whoever it was who compared this book to lolita in the synopsis).
i wanted so much more than this.

but alas.

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