nils_0's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit
booksandboba's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
When I first read it, I loved it, loved the writing style and character development (it was my first or one of my first encounters with writing like this), really related to descriptions of anxiety and depression, considered it my favorite book. Read it a second time and started forming doubts, particularly with noticing issues of classism and racism. Read it a third time, this time annotating heavily for themes present throughout the book (question of fate vs free will, good vs bad and moral responsibility, depression and grief vs hope, art and its beauty and importance, friendship and love, impermanence vs permanence, time, life and death) and enjoyed doing that, but in doing so realized that the book really could have been edited better. I found the ending to be sloppy and not satisfying. And the way that blatant racism is used in the book (equating East Asian and especially Chinese culture and objects with cheapness) is just appalling.
And apparently it took 10 years or more to write this book, which either means that those choices were deliberate and well-thought out, choosing to only have people of color represented in minor roles mostly as working class serving the white upper class, choosing to use racist notions to make character points, or she somehow in all that time failed to consider these choices — why she might be making them, what they mean, what sort of impact they would have — despite the clear time and attention to detail given to making this book.
Spoiler
Maybe you can claim that Theo, as a character, is racist, and that it just adds to the long list of character flaws and why we can’t trust him as a reliable narrator etc., but we already have so many examples so why would this be necessary? The racism does not directly connect to a point that needs to made either for plot or theme as far as I can see, and even if Theo as a character is just racist, that still doesn’t explain why the only people of color we encounter are in working class positions, save maybe the two social workers. (And he can’t even remember the Korean woman’s name, and just has to mention that her breath smells like garlic?)Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gun violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Classism, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia
Minor: Pregnancy
emmawoodhouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Trafficking, and Vomit
Spoiler
the dog stops getting neglected early on and lives a long, happy lifecstein's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Violence, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Vomit, Death, Gore, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, and Mental illness
Minor: Antisemitism, Classism, Medical content, and Trafficking
ladybergart's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Racism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Abandonment, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Drug use
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Addiction, and Death
Minor: Murder and Eating disorder
morbidanatomy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia and Infidelity
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Fatphobia, and Xenophobia
faerieevee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, and Child abuse
laura9955's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Animal cruelty
macca23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Toxic friendship
tobeeornottobee's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Gore, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death