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meaghanelizabook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Bullying, Grief, and Child death
Moderate: Fatphobia and Child abuse
Minor: Homophobia
mandi4886's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Classism and Sexism
Minor: Child abuse
waytoomanybooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
There's nothing I can say about the sorry that hasn't already been said, so I'll be brief. The writing is both beautiful and moving, the characters feel real and raw, and, despite knowing how it ends, I still teared up. I highly recommend this book.
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Grief
tbwhite23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Grief and Child death
kibbles15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Minor: Child death, Grief, Death, and Bullying
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There are some really questionable things in the book though, mostly due to its age, I guess. So I wouldn't really recommend it for children these days. The way fat shaming is used, or child abuse is handled, are harmful in my opinion.
I also didn't love the ending, I've definitely seen better examples of handling this topic. But it did make me emotional (although I saw it coming because the movie makes people sad).
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Child death
Minor: Child abuse
wolfiegrrrl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The grandest statement the author makes is that boys can like drawing and girls can wear pants. That's weak feminism even for the time because she still actively cuts down fat women and girls at every opportunity. It's excessive and unnecessary. Furthermore, she sends a bad message to victims of child abuse. This book's advice to kids suffering from an abusive home life is to "not mix personal life with school life" because "everyone will laugh at you and think you betrayed your parents" and "if your parents beat you up, get over it! it's not a big deal! it happens to everyone!"
This book had promise to it. There's a story in there about Jess learning to be more confident and processing his fears, then losing his friend and having to process that grief. Maybe there's even a story in there about learning to understand other people as well as yourself, but it's so fumbled by the attitudes of the author and the time period it was written in. As it stands, the ending is the most well-written part of this book.
Graphic: Grief, Bullying, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Sexism, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Violence and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Child death, Death, Cancer, War, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Car accident
serena_hien's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Bullying, and Grief
Moderate: Sexism and Fatphobia
headislemon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Bullying and Body shaming
diaratewi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death