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annoyedhumanoid's reviews
152 reviews
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Violence, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Blood, Cursing, Racism, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Stalking, Mental illness, and Racial slurs
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Vomit, Death of parent, Drug use, Outing, and Body shaming
2.25
Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, Colonisation, Genocide, Islamophobia, Animal death, Child death, Death, War, Xenophobia, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Hate crime, Bullying, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, and War
Moderate: Gun violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Racism, Outing, Death of parent, Death, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Sexism, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Blood, Drug use, and Deadnaming
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Car accident, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Body shaming, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Fatphobia, Medical content, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Excrement
4.0
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, War, Genocide, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Colonisation, and Sexism
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The jokes weren't funny, I took the money
My friends from home don't know what to say
I looked around in a blood-soaked gown
And I saw something they can't take away
'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned
Everything you lose is a step you take
So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it
You've got no reason to be afraid
[…]
You're on your own, kid
You always have been
i'm not sure if i didn't like the ending or if i just didn't want it to end.
i'm also conflicted on the narrative structure of being told through memory with reflections and commentary peppered in. it obviously allows for deeper, more mature insight, as well as effective foreshadowing, but oftentimes it was along the lines of "i was so stupid then" which like, show don't tell, and we're definitely sufficiently shown. which i don't think is a bad thing! but i know for others it is, and so this setup feels like a concession to the crowd that can't stand, for example, Sally Rooney novels because her twenty-something young women characters are annoying or self-involved or clueless (for example, from a review of Conversations with Friends: "One of the most pretentious and self absorbed gen-z/millenial 'I am a suffering artist who is better than anyone else' main characters. Something about the damaged female writer character that is really trying my patience these days"). i am a strong advocate for allowing women characters to be annoying and self-involved and clueless. that's not to say you have to enjoy reading about them, but i don't like media catered to people who believe otherwise; just count them out of your intended audience. so the narration winds up feeling to me like a lampshading cop-out.
big thought out of the way, yeah i loved this, a truly funny in-depth character study showing significant growth and change. i fell in love with Rachel and James (Devlin; Carey is fine). storygraph was spot-on with this recommendation, thanks babe <3
miscellaneous: i was happy to see Rachel become friends with other women by the end. being surrounded almost exclusively by men for that long cannot be good for one's mental health
Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Blood, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infertility, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Bullying
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Death, Excrement, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual harassment, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Vomit
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Classism, Infidelity, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Murder, and Alcoholism
Minor: Drug abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Cursing, and Drug use
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Gore, Confinement, Alcohol, and Cursing
- 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
4.0
this doesn't really become a thriller until over three-fourths of the way through—before then it's more contemporary relationship fiction. but i think it was necessary, for the most part, and actually really well done. even though i knew from the blurb and other reviews that the love interest was not to be trusted, i found myself won over by his charm just like our protagonist. and the thriller part was also very well executed. i enjoyed both aspects of the book.
as for its themes. the woes of corporate capitalism are played out in a nuanced subplot, but i wish it had a bigger role in the end, maybe somehow connecting back to Mat, like if he had been
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Sexism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Misogyny, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Classism
Minor: Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Bullying, Gore, and Animal death