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emmaward55's review against another edition
sad
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Oof. Those trigger warnings are no joke.
Some quick thoughts:
Evan was a character that I loved to hate - right until *that* twist in the end. He's inappropriate, makes poor and harmful choices, and prioritizes his own need for comfort over others (even when his narration is insisting the opposite is true). In essence, he's a realistic teenage boy.
I got such strong secondhand embarrassment from his words and deeds, that reading this book often felt like a minor anxiety attack.
Until like the final 90% or so of the book, I genuinely thought it had been mis-shelved as LGBTQ+. The straight "romance" is excruciating thanks to a certain dramatic irony. I dreaded every scene between Evan and Zoe and that KISS? Gross. Evan just kept crossing lines so blatant that a person with their eyes closed could have seen them.
Some quick thoughts:
Evan was a character that I loved to hate - right until *that* twist in the end. He's inappropriate, makes poor and harmful choices, and prioritizes his own need for comfort over others (even when his narration is insisting the opposite is true). In essence, he's a realistic teenage boy.
I got such strong secondhand embarrassment from his words and deeds, that reading this book often felt like a minor anxiety attack.
Until like the final 90% or so of the book, I genuinely thought it had been mis-shelved as LGBTQ+. The straight "romance" is excruciating thanks to a certain dramatic irony.
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing and Abandonment
Minor: Drug use and Antisemitism
Child death: It's a teenager (a senior in highschool)