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booksense'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
emmasiporatyler'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: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual content, and Vomit
partlyclaudia'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
3.75
SPOILERS
it presents itself as an incredibly slow burning romance between sadie and sam and ultimately results in.. not that? slow burning friendship (?) i enjoyed the acknowledgement that not all love is romantic and that there are things more important than romance, but still found the change in tone resulting from marx’s death to be really hard to read. it felt like the plot derailed a little bit, emphasizing the need for that third person in sadie/sam’s relationship, especially marx. feeling conflicted over this. bumping it a bit bc im realizing how conflicted i really feel lol
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
quotablehedgehog'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
2.5
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Drug use, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism
fancyjess_party's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
amylokoff'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death and Sexism
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Dysphoria, and Classism
adaora_ble's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It did such a good job of fleshing out every character it touched whilst still focusing on the MCs. Even though they were frustrating and complex and unable to hold necessary emotional conversations with each other, I still loved every single character through deep and unabiding love for each other to dispassionate hate to everything inbetween.
Marx really is the better half of Sam and Sadie, the glue that holds everything together, probably the best character from an objective standpoint and certainly the most emotionally healthy of the main trio. However, in choosing my favourite character it has to be Sam, digging into his psyche and all his neurosis and hang ups and things he just cannot say even though he truly wants to I feel so bad for him and simultaneously so mad at him and yet you get his deep fear.
Up until the moment I finished it I thought of this book as contemporary fiction, or as my high school librarian would call it 'That's Life', but when I was tagging/shelving it on StoryGraphs I was suddenly struck with the realisation that it could very well be classed as a sci-fi. Like a low stakes (and less fucked up) Black Mirror; it speculates on the effects/consequences of technology on individuals and society, even if it's something as basic as a 90s video game and not Ready Player One, it speaks to our own world and the problems we face as a society.
I can't recommend this book enough, I was fighting tears on the train at the end and even though the first part (of ten parts) was fairly slow it soon sucked me in and got me invested in even the most brief character.
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
qrschulte'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
I didn’t find Sadie and Sam particularly likable, but I completely understood their motivations and their choices were believable.
This was a really ambitious book, and I think Zevin executed it really well. You can tell she put in a lot of time researching to make it realistic. It’s clearly a love letter to gaming, and I really appreciated the style of the different sections. I think it added a lot to the narrative. This is definitely a book that I will enjoy even more on a future read, though having a physical copy would make it easier to flip back to remind myself of different sections.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Vomit, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, and Classism
Minor: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and War
Not a true adult/minor relationship, but the power dynamic was definitely like one. The ableism is more internalized.arguhlincozzi'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
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Classism
it's just so good.snickbit'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: Gun violence, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abortion, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming