elderwoodreads's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I wasn't sure how I felt about this book for most of it. I feel like I enjoy this as extended character study but the story was weird and disjointed. As others have said the ending is incredibly abrupt and out of nowhere. Ultimately I really enjoyed Stephen's chapters and inner world even if I vehemently disagree with it. I think if you like the show it's worth a shot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Car accident
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Misogyny
Minor: Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Vomit, and Violence
sldibened's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Eating disorders, abusive relationships, sex, drugs & alcohol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, and Death
Eating disorders, abusive relationships, sex, drugs & alcoholginareadspararom's review against another edition
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I usually don't leave reviews BUT this one...BABY! We have to talk about it. LOL.
In the beginning of reading it, I was really enjoying it. I had a strong feeling of "okay, where are we going with this". It seems like other than his green eyes, she wasn't even initially attracted to Stephen, and yet, she was able to fall for him really hard anyway.
Spoiler
made it so much worse that we had his perspective as well, because we could tell for the majority of the story he was not even thinking about her.I was all set to give this book a solid 3 stars.
The only thing that changed it to 4 stars was the enormous growth that Lucy made in the last 2 chapters.
Spoiler
It seemed like that growth was going to come earlier in the story but NOPE, it did not last.I loved that the book did touch on mental health and the struggles that Lucy had with it. I personally think that with her lack of empathy for other characters it was more than just the one mentioned that she should have been diagnosed with.
Overall, I hated everyone BUT the book was pretty good. It was watching a train wreck. Painful to keep watching/reading but I was unable to look away/put the book down.
Great job, Carola Lovering. I hated the book but that's what also made me love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
cgm42's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Made the mistake of going "oh this show is based on a book? I should read it" the show is better but if you have time to kill (or can't sleep) and want to know how the show might end, the book might give you a general idea. Bless the writers room competency.
Stars removed for placing Baird in California (google says its in New York. Want a school setting in California? the state has many to choose from or make up fictional school) and for improper use of The Cranberries (this is a personal bias).
The story itself is about entering in messy/abusive relationships and confusing sex with actual feelings or a relationship, its told in 2 perspectives Stephen & Lucy. There are a couple of flashback scenes, one that I don't feel like it helped the story in any way and the other flashback takes place in college and is the bulk of the story. There are better books out there that address these themes better, go read those. That said I didn't hate the book enough to DNF so that's my fault really because I love trash. If you're here for the relatable likeable character, this is not your book.
Although its mostly in Lucy's perspective, I could have done with less of Stephen. We get it that he's terrible as the story unfolds and seeing the story be told by his perspective makes sense to give context to his actions and his obsession with Lucy but there are certain storylines from him that didn't need to be there as it borders on him being a cartoon villain, when I felt the book already established quite clearly that he is not a good person. Making him comically obvious that he's terrible removes the subtlety of how abusers act.
Lucy's story arc is...complicated. Although I didn't really like her personality & a lot of the decisions she made, that didn't make me less empathetic of her situation. Because yes being around an abusive and charming person, you will make dumb decisions, especially when you're in college.
I really didn't like the Macy's storyline as it didn't contributed anything to the story and could have easily been left out. Stephen shouldn't have been driving under the influence and he shouldn't have left the scene of the accident and he belongs in jail but it one of those things where its like yes we get it he's evil look at what a terrible thing he did stop beating us over the head with it. Also, when Lucy is remembering Macy and she's convinced that it was about him... I can't suspend my belief that hard. Sure Lucy is smart but for her to just know that it was him who caused the car accident makes ZERO sense & even confronting him like that made ZERO sense. It felt like fridge-ing but even more useless.
My other nit-picky thing was The Unspeakable Thing, once her character talks about catching her mom in an affair with her school girl crush (and wow what a creep that guy was) she keeps talking about it as The Unspeakable Thing, just call it CJ's affair from then on.
Stars removed for placing Baird in California (google says its in New York. Want a school setting in California? the state has many to choose from or make up fictional school) and for improper use of The Cranberries (this is a personal bias).
The story itself is about entering in messy/abusive relationships and confusing sex with actual feelings or a relationship, its told in 2 perspectives Stephen & Lucy. There are a couple of flashback scenes, one that I don't feel like it helped the story in any way and the other flashback takes place in college and is the bulk of the story. There are better books out there that address these themes better, go read those. That said I didn't hate the book enough to DNF so that's my fault really because I love trash. If you're here for the relatable likeable character, this is not your book.
Although its mostly in Lucy's perspective, I could have done with less of Stephen. We get it that he's terrible as the story unfolds and seeing the story be told by his perspective makes sense to give context to his actions and his obsession with Lucy but there are certain storylines from him that didn't need to be there as it borders on him being a cartoon villain, when I felt the book already established quite clearly that he is not a good person. Making him comically obvious that he's terrible removes the subtlety of how abusers act.
Lucy's story arc is...complicated. Although I didn't really like her personality & a lot of the decisions she made, that didn't make me less empathetic of her situation. Because yes being around an abusive and charming person, you will make dumb decisions, especially when you're in college.
Spoiler
I enjoyed her ending, was she suddenly an amazing person, with her shit together? no, but she's trying. Contrasting it to how she first hit her low point and went for help before her senior year and then fell back to her old habits. I like that because it showed that progress can be slow and that's ok.I really didn't like the Macy's storyline as it didn't contributed anything to the story and could have easily been left out. Stephen shouldn't have been driving under the influence and he shouldn't have left the scene of the accident and he belongs in jail but it one of those things where its like yes we get it he's evil look at what a terrible thing he did stop beating us over the head with it. Also, when Lucy is remembering Macy and she's convinced that it was about him... I can't suspend my belief that hard. Sure Lucy is smart but for her to just know that it was him who caused the car accident makes ZERO sense & even confronting him like that made ZERO sense. It felt like fridge-ing but even more useless.
My other nit-picky thing was The Unspeakable Thing, once her character talks about catching her mom in an affair with her school girl crush (and wow what a creep that guy was) she keeps talking about it as The Unspeakable Thing, just call it CJ's affair from then on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Car accident
Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
lindsayerin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Mental illness, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child death
Minor: Alcoholism and Classism
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