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challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Minor: Body horror
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness
Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, Grief
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I absolutely adored the magical realism, almost sci-fi aspects of this book. I think it was cool how it all got tied up together at the end and how the book feels very light. While the writing is not at all bad, I felt like it became too redundant at times and a moment just circles into itself again and again. The concept could have been executed a little better in the first 2/3s of the book. Still, I thought this was a very whimsical and reflective read
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Infidelity
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book was a gut punch. It was consistently sad the whole way through, but it ends on a hopeful note, at the very least. It's about an emotionally broken family that never heals. It's about childhood disappointments that turn into regrets in adulthood. It's about not fitting in, no matter your age or position in life. This is not a pick-me-up and does not take the tack of “it gets better,” but it is beautifully written. The gorgeous language is what made me keep turning the pages, and quickly, too, but overall, the story was lackluster. Which is disappointing because I could see what the novel could’ve been with another round of editing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment
Moderate: Body horror
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Okay so. What the fuck.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Toxic friendship
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a really odd story, but one I practically fell into, as I read it in the course of one evening, only pausing to eat dinner. After finishing it, I'm left with a kind of melancholy emptiness. The most striking theme in this story to me is one of grief, both for youthful ignorance lost, and for realizing you never found the words to unlock your family members, the same people who sat alongside you and spoke to you daily for years upon years, and never really got to know the most important pieces to them, until suddenly you had run out of time. As confused as this book made me feel during some chapters, I think those are pains most of us can relate to, although we wish we didn't.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Infidelity, Medical content, Dementia, Death of parent, Toxic friendship
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Alcohol
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death of parent
The addiction I perceive in this book is so nontraditional, even magical, that I didn't give it more than a "minor" designation, but to me, the theme of addiction is pervasive.
The disordered eating in this book is similarly magical, but because the book is centered around food and eating and the protagonist's struggle with these things, I marked it as 'graphic.'