A review by time_travel_tragedy
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is like one of the most depressing books I've ever read. She goes to New York and we find out way later she was supposed to be pursuing creative aspirations but she spends the entire book drinking and doing drugs, and overall wasting away. Even the ending, when she realizes the reality of her situation, she doesn't make it better, she does something in line with all her other self destructive actions and then the next day it's like on to better horizons. The ending could have been uplifting, but this character was broken in so many ways, and we get no glimpse into what her future might hold. I needed something a little more at the end to believe there's hope for the character after the novel ends. 
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