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justdiana'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
Moderate: Stalking, Drug use, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Mental illness, Violence, Addiction, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Sexual content, Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Suicide, and War
erebus53'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
4.25
The story is that of a person who lives again after dying (what I call "Groundhog life"). As someone who has read and watched quite a few timey-wimey stories this was fairly familiar ground. I noticed information that I had picked up recently from recently reading Catch-22 and Midnight in Chernobyl, and there is at least one reference to Back to the Future.
This is a book that grazes themes of anthropogenic climate change (without dwelling on it) and wonders at what would have happened if the pace of change we have gone through over the last 200 years, had been even faster. It almost hints at the question of whether this is what has happened for us to be in the situation we are now. I'm glad that the cast of characters isn't focused on one part of the world, but rather, spans every continent, with characters from China, Nigeria, the Americas, Russia, various bits of the UK, and all over.
On a personal level, the main character is burdened with living his life with few interpersonal relationships. He floats along aloof of what is going on and suffers many of the same ills as other immortal fantasy characters. It does mean that relationships he develops are sometimes dysfunctional or toxic. He also remembers his own deaths and the horrible things that he has happen to him and has to take a proactive approach to his own self-care for the sake of his mental health.
Interesting book. At times terrible, and at times inspirational, but I feel like if I go into more detail it will spoil things.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Torture, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Mental illness, Infidelity, Death, Suicide, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: War, Stalking, and Rape
Minor: Infertility
corriejn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Drug use, Murder, Death, Terminal illness, Stalking, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gore, Torture, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Genocide, Child abuse, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Gun violence, Child death, Medical content, Alcohol, War, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape