Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

40 reviews

sydnec's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Sexism

jayisreading's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

This novel didn’t quite work for me. I think there were a couple gems, such as the way Arafat explored her unnamed protagonist’s identity and its complexities. This isn’t just a novel about a messy bisexual who made a lot of poor choices; it’s also very much a novel about a Palestinian American who is trying to make sense of her cultural identity in relation to her sexuality. This is further complicated by the protagonist’s relationship with her mother and the tensions that come with not being “enough” while also being “too much.” I can see why Arafat felt that all of these things needed to be addressed in the novel, and I can’t really imagine it without all of these moving pieces. However, I felt that the author only scratched the surface as a result of having too much she wanted to write about, resulting in a somewhat superficial, not-fully-realized exploration of the protagonist’s understanding of the world. 

I think Arafat is a good writer, and while messy protagonists don’t always work for me, I was still compelled to follow the one she wrote. I just think the way she chose to organize this novel didn’t work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Addiction, and Infidelity

Moderate: Biphobia, Alcohol, Drug use, and Homophobia

Minor: Racism

bashsbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• 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

Enjoyed this book well enough. It was a nice exploration of the difference between love and obsession, the dysfunction between mother and daughter strewn across cultures, and those cultures that the daughter feels stretched between. 

I found the characters to be complex and well-fleshed, suited for the concepts they were exploring. I thought that who got names and who didn't was compelling and thought-provoking detail. 

That said, I think that it was somewhat lacking in balance in the scenes in which it spent lots of time with versus the times and places it skipped through. And I felt like the thread of the Ledge and the mental health aspect fell out of the plot a bit awkwardly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Biphobia, Sexual content, Racism, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

errie's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Sexual content, Alcohol, Drug use, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Biphobia

gabyhat's review against another edition

hopeful informative slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

flamesocks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, and Lesbophobia

kathleenivy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Infidelity, Biphobia, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Drug abuse, Genocide, Racism, Alcoholism, and Outing

abitbetterbooks's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Sexual content, Biphobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, and Self harm

jourdanicus's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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 didn't expect this book to speak to my mommy issues so much buuuut... That's what resonated with me most from it.

As a white gal who grew up with a toxic mother, it has always interested me how women from other cultures (especially those where filial loyalty/community are more prioritized) approach relationships with their narcissistic mothers. I feel this novel gave me some insight into that, and fit into my current interest in reading from the Palestinian diaspora.

The characters here are deeply humanized; not always likeable or agreeable, but that gives them even more depth. Toward the end (80-90% in the audio) I found myself wondering where the story was going, but I think part of the point of a book like this is that it doesn't have to "go" anywhere. Life doesn't tie up in a neat bow and roll the credits, relationships are complicated and don't always come with tidy ends or easy answers, and Arafat illustrated that well with this book's direction and conclusion.

I think I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Colonisation, Addiction, Biphobia, Homophobia, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Drug abuse

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Police brutality, Alcoholism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Suicide, War, Bullying, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Racism