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A review by tamtamslibrary
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“They don’t remember, nobody remembers what it feels like to be so recklessly absorbent.”
The story builds slowly but that’s the point of the theme. For the MC, life is both fleeting and stagnant, and the author pairs this nicely with her youth and the MC’s over-absorbency of emotions. It’s a coming of age story in the sense that lessons are bitter but with time they sweeten. At times you’ll find the characters cringy, but aren’t we all at one point in time? How human it is to be a “sponge.”
The story builds slowly but that’s the point of the theme. For the MC, life is both fleeting and stagnant, and the author pairs this nicely with her youth and the MC’s over-absorbency of emotions. It’s a coming of age story in the sense that lessons are bitter but with time they sweeten. At times you’ll find the characters cringy, but aren’t we all at one point in time? How human it is to be a “sponge.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment