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aubreyrae_m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
squidface's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adored this book, flaws and all (which is definitely one of the themes of the book - loving someone wholly despite their flaws and your flaws). I loved the literary references, the use of Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson, and thought it was interesting that those things fell away as the characters got older - but yet it was sort of a turning plot point in the later third of the book to bring Macbeth back in so the characters could emotionally connect again (sorry if this doesn't make much sense, I'm trying to keep the review as spoiler free as possible).
I felt, as others have pointed out, that Zevin was using some kind of word of the day thing and tried to shoehorn in as many random words as possible. Tuberose was overused as an adjective. She misused the word tautology (who proofed this?).
I disagree with whoever said she clearly doesn't understand music - those observations about Miles Davis et al in the book are made from a character point of view and definitely aren't the views of the author.
Although I did at times find the characters to be thinly veiled versions of parts of Zevin, for the most part they're adorkable.
Despite the flaws, I think Zevin is an amazing and accomplished writer. And this book is definitely worth a read.
For me it actually could have gone into more elaboration about the games world itself and the business side of it, but I suppose in the end the book focused on relationships between people, and that's what mattered more, because it played to it's strengths.
Minor: Ableism, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
brokenpickle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, and Abortion
intrepid_bibliophile'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Classism
brlylcl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
hannah_the_bookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Stalking, and Pregnancy
starduststyx's review against another edition
Besides the author not crediting the work of Brenda Romero who inspired the game "Solution" ( Zevin credits her husband for his games btw so she SHOULD'VE credit Brenda for her game "Train" inspiring "Solution) and being a zionist ( literally attended a "right for israel to exist" convention ) this book is just not good.
I stopped about 30% of the way there. I can't say the exact page because it was digital and I need the font to be bigger meaning the book is longer than it should, but as a gamedev it also just hurt to read. It's written in a way that's easy to devour but hard to process because some of the serious topics even in this first half I read was not handled properly. You're presented with this story that's supposed to be about this amazing friendship but it's just about it's complicated downfall from what I can gather so far. The book does have it's good moments when writing about Sam and Sadie, but the way the two of them talk about their creations make it feel a bit empty. You can evision the story and the characters and the visuals but the way you play the way these characters move are just things we barely gather. I think Solution was the only game I could clearly visualize besides EmilyBlaster.
Yknow, if the author wasn't a zionist and apologized for not crediting Brenda Romero I would actually finish the book because like. How do you write a book about woman not being credited just to do that as the author. Agh I have so many more words to say but I feel it's just a waste. If you like the book. I get it. It's like enjoying a mcdonalds burger. But fuck this. I can spend my time doing better things.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
saskiahill's review
5.0
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
More detailed trigger warning:palindrometodd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
laurajordensharris's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol