Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering

5 reviews

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

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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.
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sleepswithbooks's review against another edition

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challenging medium-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

Just an incredibly frustrating read with obnoxious characters. The story is somewhat interesting and engaging, but every chapter is essentially the same with nothing new happening with the characters. Dumb kids making dumb choices. Ending was terrible. 
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cgm42's review against another edition

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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 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.
 


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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-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

4.0

Poignant and devastating, Lucy’s coming of age story is one of tragedy and disappointment. She struggles to build positive relationships through the fog of her depression, uses drugs to cope, and makes life decisions based on the whims of a boy. Understanding her past is the key to freeing herself in the future. 
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lindsayerin's review against another edition

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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

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