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thekrujue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Racial slurs, Violence, Homophobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Car accident, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Racism, Grief, Alcohol, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Murder, and Death
olivialoverderheinheimer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship
funishment's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Transphobia, Hate crime, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Toxic relationship
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Murder, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
josie2k's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Toxic relationship, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Hate crime, Car accident, Body horror, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Torture, and Violence
kccool12255'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
Some of my PERSONAL favorite lines from this book (*cue eye rolls and constant head banging*):
"His chest was tighter than a virgin's p***y."
"Wound up tighter than a godd***ed duck's a**."
"I'm gonna tear off your d**k and make you eat it."
That's not even HALF of the stupid analogies that this book is FILLED TO THE BRIM with. It was FULL of them in the beginning, and then there would be a lull for a few pages where you would be like, "Oh, okay, these analogies are decent. Maybe we're done with-" AND THEN IT WOULD SMACK YOU IN THE FACE. That was the process of reading this book, which by the way, took 11 DAYS, which is WAY too long to spend on a book that sucks as much as this one. Although one of my FAVORITE things from this book (*mocking voice*) is just how even though both of the main characters are grieving their sons' deaths, they show absolutely NO EMPATHY for anyone else.
"Mya wailed. He [Ike] flinched when she spoke. It was like hearing a rabbit scream in a trap."
"Buddy Lee had felt a firmer grip from his grandmother on her deathbed."
This book reads like an edgy 14-year-old's fanfiction on Wattpad. Maybe it's because of all the cursing, or just the writing in general, but it's horrible. I mean, there were SOME good lines, but the quality of the bad lines is just too horrendous for the book to be considered good.
"Just because I don't wanna talk about it doesn't mean I want to forget about it. It reminds me of why I don't ever wanna go back."
"You let an animal know you're afraid of it and it loses all respect for you. Men might walk on two legs but they were the most vicious animals of all."
"When the people you love are gone, it's the things they've touched that keep them alive in your mind. They become anchors that help you keep their memory from drifting away."
"He knew what a killer looked like. He saw one in the mirror every day."
"There was no turning back. There was no path that led anywhere down a long road as dark as your first night in hell and paved all along the way with bad intentions."
But the problem with this is that you have lines like that sprinkled every few pages, and you start to think, "Maybe this book will start to get better," and then NOPE, we get lines like these:
"You always felt like you were on the edge of some imaginary precipice...if you were an ex-con, it felt like the precipice was covered in bacon grease."
"The powerlifter had sweat stains spreading down from his armpits that vaguely resembled maps of England and Ireland respectively."
Both of those above quotes came from THE FIRST PAGE. THE TONE SETTER FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK. THIS BOOK ISN'T EVEN A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, WHICH SHOULD'VE BEEN A RED FLAG FROM THE GET-GO.
I'm assuming that these FEW good lines, the moderately good character development, and the way this novel deals heavily with grief, outweighed all of the stupid things for people, because this is the only reason I can give for this book having an average FOUR STARS. FOUR. STARS. IT'S NOT OKAY. I saw a review that said "If you don't like metaphors or similes, this book isn't for you," but that's not true, either, because there was a SPRINKLING of good analogies throughout, it just was overshadowed by all of the STUPID ones ONE PAGE LATER. It's not that we don't like analogies, it's that the author uses STUPID ones.
In conclusion, because there's a life lesson to be learned here, never buy a book that you saw a girl reading on a plane, because she might be a freak (or not, I don't know her). To the girl who I saw reading this book on that plane, I'm so sorry you had to suffer through this. I could blame you for my suffering, but I won't because I did this to myself. You are not to blame.
0 stars. I need to be recompensed for this. I should get an award for getting through this book, because I literally wanted to pluck out my eyeballs the entire time.
Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Violence, Cursing, and Grief
Moderate: Dysphoria, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Alcohol, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Blood, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, and Hate crime
Minor: Kidnapping, Vomit, Abandonment, Sexual content, Cancer, Car accident, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Medical content
fossilizedtreesaps's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Vomit, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Torture, and Racism
wren_rainbow's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Toxic relationship
faerietale_princess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Also, I learned quite a few words! Loved the choice of language and prose the author used.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Death
Moderate: Hate crime, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Minor: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
kawooreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Blood, Child death, Death, Murder, Violence, Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Gore, Homophobia, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Racism, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia