Reviews

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

its_literature's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

highly readable, love just reading abt queer ppl existing in the world, the intersection of queerness and american immigrant experience and childhood trauma but all encased in such a “normal” life. the brilliance of friendship! just got a bit frustrated with the complete inability to be communicative and the wallowing…truly cannot wallow for the life of me

ta_le_s's review

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

searobin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

If this book taught me one thing, it is that I love to hate unlikable characters, and unfortunately, I could not hate Sneha. I've never had messy friends... I think too many of us actually went to therapy, so we didn't end up like Sneha. I mostly pitied her, and I've never wanted to be able to shake a character and tell them to deal with their shit so badly. I feel so bad for Tig, who absolutely deserved better. I was expecting a lot more character progression than we got, also. However, while some aspects were very unrelatable, others, such as the queer farm collective, were all too relatable!
All in all, I did enjoy this book, and it definitely made me feel things and consider different perspectives. I didn't love some of the things it made me feel or consider, and it definitely wasn't uplifting in my opinion, but I did enjoy it.

vibekebruun's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

mitskacir's review against another edition

3.0

It was hard to get into this book because the main character, Sneha, is a very "woe-is-me" type and was very unlikable. It ended up being a pretty fast read, but I never really liked the main character or saw why her friends were so ride-or-die for her. I appreciated the portrayal of her internalized racism and sexism, even though it sometimes made me very uncomfortable and did nothing to make me like her more. However, neither was really dealt with or examined, so there wasn't a lot of growth for Sneha. I don't necessarily think that makes this a bad book or that every character has to have a redemption arc, but it did make it a bleak read.

smeyers98's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

brambledwilds's review against another edition

Very slow start

lashanda's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

This is probably one of my favourite books. Ever. 

Mathews is an extraordinary writer. I was drinking up every sentence in awe. The way she crafted Sneha, the protagonist, was so well done. She is a bit unlikable, and I love that Mathews took that risk. I saw so much of myself in Sneha, which made the book extra special for me. 

This is a heartbreaking story. Mathews tackles a lot of hard subjects like poverty, capitalism, queer identity, and love in the form of friendship. The book is incredibly honest and I respect Mathews for how she wrote about these topics and how Sneha interacted with her world. Incredible incredible incredible. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. 

kaylananci's review against another edition

4.0

i had to wake anne up from sleep last night when i finished this because i was crying too much. this was sooo good. main character was kind of annoying sometimes but i think the discussions of friendship and caring for one another was really beautiful

c_m_t's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5