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maecaitlin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Mostly read this out of a need for a reliable holiday book. As I have seen the TV show prior to this, I already knew what to expect…. YEARNING.
Reading the dialogue was different to watching the adaptation. The banter between Dexter and Emma sometimes feels a bit too millennial for my taste. Nicholls’ writing occasionally falls into casual-2009-fatphobia sadly, which makes it feel ever more dated.
Reading the dialogue was different to watching the adaptation. The banter between Dexter and Emma sometimes feels a bit too millennial for my taste. Nicholls’ writing occasionally falls into casual-2009-fatphobia sadly, which makes it feel ever more dated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Fatphobia
kathshiroma's review against another edition
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use and Death of parent
Minor: Fatphobia and Infertility
marissagero's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I had to take a break from this book 50% of the way through because it put me in a rut. I’m glad I finished it, but it was hard to get through. I didn’t like that every chapter left off on a cliffhanger and the next chapter jumped a year into the future. I felt like a lot of cliffhangers were never fully “wrapped up”. I also kept finding myself thinking “I can tell a man wrote this book” every time Emma’s appearance was described.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
katharina90's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
I first read this novel shortly after the movie came out in 2011. I always preferred the movie, and rereading the book in 2024 (because there's a new adaptation on Netflix) I like it even less. But I'll leave it at 3 stars for nostalgia's sake.
Aside from everything that hasn't aged well, like the raging fatphobia, the characters are just so unlikeable and immature.
Because we're only shown snapshots over the course of 20 years, more often than not we see Em and Dex at their worst which makes it difficult to root for them.
The ending is deeply unsatisfying.
Aside from everything that hasn't aged well, like the raging fatphobia, the characters are just so unlikeable and immature.
Because we're only shown snapshots over the course of 20 years, more often than not we see Em and Dex at their worst which makes it difficult to root for them.
The ending is deeply unsatisfying.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Grief
Minor: Infertility, Terminal illness, and Death of parent