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dniespal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
poirot's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Alcohol, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
kimveach'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Grief, Murder, Outing, Rape, and Toxic friendship
untanglingbooks'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
4.25
I need to say that at the beginning I was kinda disappointed because the story was not really moving forward, a lot of irrelevant things were described way too thoroughly and I couldn't really understand David's motives and thoughts. Even though I definitely would have had the time to read the whole book it took me days to read the first part... (But at the end I almost devoured page after page and just couldn't stop reading anymore :D)
With the return of Hella the pace of the story suddenly accelerated a lot and it finally got very interesting. Some thoughts eventually made sense and as a reader I got to understand David's situation a lot better.
One thing that threw me off throughout the whole book were these misogynistic comments towards Hella or women in general. Back then the times were definitely different from today and Hella also addressed the topic of her role as a woman in society, but this was more or less the only time she was let to raise her voice and the whole topic just left me back a little uncomfortable.
All in all this is a great book and definitely worth reading, even though it takes a while until Baldwin actually gets to the point.
Graphic: Misogyny and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Outing, and Transphobia
milliebrierley's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, and Outing
curatoriallyyours's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Outing, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, and Xenophobia
I was not a fan of the casual sexism and transphobia, and I can’t decide if it’s a deliberate airing of questionable ideas by the author to prompt reflection in the reader (this book would have been a shock at the time it was published), a mirror of the values of the time or the genuine feeling of the author.