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elliez's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Pregnancy
Moderate: Incest and Alcoholism
lololovesthings's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
"Little Monsters" by Adrienne Brodeur is an uneven character-driven family drama full of secrets, lies, deception, patriarchy, oddities, and crimes, but is intriguing, nonetheless. Here, we have another book about rich people doing horrible things and not caring about the fallout around them. If that's your bag, you'll likely enjoy this book. I did not particularly enjoy the writing style. I think there are too many points of view going on here, but it could be that it's just too long in the end. Despite being full of drama, I found these characters to be relatively believable. It shows how money shields people from manners and tact and allows them to get away with acting and existing in ways that poor people can't. They are insistent, demanding, selfish, sick, intolerable, twisted, and privileged. All of the men in this book, from patriarch Adam to friend David to brother Ken, benefit from having the women in their lives stay silent and complicit, and subservient to their needs, wants, wishes, and dominance. I absolutely LOATHED Ken and hated his chapters the most. This is not a complaint because I think author Adrienne Brodeur does a spectacular job making her readers absolutely hate him so, so much. He's one of the most detestable characters I have read recently. In fact, most of these characters have flaws that are basically unforgivable. *SPOILER* There's infidelity, incest, drug/alcohol issues, child abuse, mental illness, parental abandonment... it's a veritable kitchen sink soup of trauma. Finally, I think the book is too long and too slow, but simultaneously still leaves too many unanswered questions for me to be content with its ending. A lot of the unnecessary length could have been used to tie up loose ends and make things clearer, but Adrienne Brodeur seems content to end her book hazily and gutlessly. I wanted more resolution and didn't get it, which caused a no less than 0.5-star drop in my rating. Despite this, I cannot deny that this book is wildly readable because I kept wanting to know what happened and how it was going to end. I only wish the ending had been more satisfying.
Thank you to NetGalley, Adrienne Brodeur, Avid Reader Press, and Simon & Schuster for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
Thank you to NetGalley, Adrienne Brodeur, Avid Reader Press, and Simon & Schuster for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
Graphic: Mental illness, Infidelity, Incest, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Abandonment and Suicidal thoughts
theflowergarden's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Pregnancy and Medical content
Moderate: Alcoholism
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Infidelity, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexism
Moderate: Fatphobia, Bullying, and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
vavocado's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-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
Can we say that this book is the best thing I've read so far this year? Oh sure, why not. It has involved, fully fleshed characters that give you legitimate reasons to love/hate in equal measure. It has DRAMA. And while I am not one for an overly-loaded storyline, it balances well and unloads on the cast in appropriate ways. The only reason it didn't get a full 5💫 is how real life events were sprinkled into the plot to date it in a way that didn't serve the book in a meaningful way.
This is my book of the summer beyond a shadow of a doubt.
This is my book of the summer beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Child abuse
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