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jazful's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
First of all: I absolutely don't understand the many negative reviews. Ironically, it reminds me a bit of the phenomenon that is discussed in the book: a topic goes viral and many people comment on similar things, criticising the smallest details.
Secondly, I found the story very entertaining and important for today, our generation and discussions around cancel culture, toxic masculinity and at the same time, the rise of MeToo and very important feminist movements. The story also brings in important intersectional perspectives that play an important role, especially for BIPOC (e.g. that Michael was most likely hired as a trope to make the team more diverse). The plot and actions are thought-provoking. What would I do if I were in Ola's situation?
I can very much identify with Ola's political stance, which has made me question myself. In this day and age, we are all very quick to jump on a bandwagon and love to criticise (especially in left-wing feminist circles). But what happens when your partner is on such a list?
Those who have written here that everything seems exaggerated, including the language and slang - I'm sorry, but then you've never been to South London. I particularly liked the book because it was so approachable. I found the characters very realistically written and they remind me of people I know. They speak, think and act like that.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading the book, despite the sometimes heavy subject matter, it was very fast paced and a page turner.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading the book, despite the sometimes heavy subject matter, it was very fast paced and a page turner.
So, Vogue is definitely right: "The book of the summer!"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Outing, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent
eloisedoesread's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
elephantsoups's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Genuinely fuck this. You can write about evil and morally bad characters without making them all severely insufferable. I wasn’t rooting for anyone or any thing other than the percentage bar to continue creeping further towards 100%. The cultural pieces were touched on and then fully abandoned instead of properly delved into and considered- do the characters even care about their own ethnicities? Or are they just using them for instagram followers… Does the author even care about their ethnicities? She certainly didn’t honor them or hold any sort of cultural context within the story she chose to write.
Do you want to know what happens in this book? Read the synopsis and then the final 10% for the lack of resolution or accountability from every single person involved in this shit show. Nothing else happens other than one self-righteous fight and one bit of drama at an event. the ONLY bit of additional drama that occurs at the single defined event of the entire book.
If you want fanfiction of AD and Clay from Love Is Blind: here it is. The “I can fix him” and the “She’ll stand by me no matter what harm I do to her” thinking they can successfully have a marriage between them.
This book was entirely one-note and the ending wasn’t the end of anything or an ending marked by change or growth or accountability or even fucking acknowledgment of inciting events. The plot holes were jarring and entirely unforgivable and every side character was interchangeable with eachother. Petty points off for the chapter titles being huge spoilers as well.
The only compliment I can give is that it was an accurate representation of a shithead man but I already knew PLENTY about that from dropping my own last year. Beat for beat they had similar thoughts and excuses. The audiobook narrator did well wresting and differentiating all of the different one note characters and their accents. The content was truly enraging but her job was very well done.
In the Q&A between the voice actor/narrator and the author I found the jokes about cancelling *them* over tiny things to be wildly tone deaf. Do you truly think a self deprecating joke about your own work is equivalent to date rape/kidnapping/assault/ coercion/etc etc etc etc listed in your own fucking book? Now who’s trivializing things? The lack of proper content warnings is abhorrent considering the thing I’ve chosen to spoiler over below.
Maybe it’s cold but the only thing I was rooting for wasfor michael’s suicide attempt to have been successful. It really would’ve saved everyone the hassle of knowing him and dealing with his bullshit. He couldn’t even off himself correctly and then couldn’t even take accountability for the fact that he even attempted it??? Mans can dodge every single thing in his life including cars I guess. I wanted to hit him again hearing that.
Also why the fuck did he wake up with a feeding tube. That makes no sense. the science in this book sucked shit too but now I truly am being petty.
Do you want to know what happens in this book? Read the synopsis and then the final 10% for the lack of resolution or accountability from every single person involved in this shit show. Nothing else happens other than one self-righteous fight and one bit of drama at an event. the ONLY bit of additional drama that occurs at the single defined event of the entire book.
If you want fanfiction of AD and Clay from Love Is Blind: here it is. The “I can fix him” and the “She’ll stand by me no matter what harm I do to her” thinking they can successfully have a marriage between them.
This book was entirely one-note and the ending wasn’t the end of anything or an ending marked by change or growth or accountability or even fucking acknowledgment of inciting events. The plot holes were jarring and entirely unforgivable and every side character was interchangeable with eachother. Petty points off for the chapter titles being huge spoilers as well.
The only compliment I can give is that it was an accurate representation of a shithead man but I already knew PLENTY about that from dropping my own last year. Beat for beat they had similar thoughts and excuses. The audiobook narrator did well wresting and differentiating all of the different one note characters and their accents. The content was truly enraging but her job was very well done.
In the Q&A between the voice actor/narrator and the author I found the jokes about cancelling *them* over tiny things to be wildly tone deaf. Do you truly think a self deprecating joke about your own work is equivalent to date rape/kidnapping/assault/ coercion/etc etc etc etc listed in your own fucking book? Now who’s trivializing things? The lack of proper content warnings is abhorrent considering the thing I’ve chosen to spoiler over below.
Maybe it’s cold but the only thing I was rooting for was
Also why the fuck did he wake up with a feeding tube. That makes no sense. the science in this book sucked shit too but now I truly am being petty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Biphobia
Minor: Vomit and Kidnapping
laurataylor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
gemmalewis1110's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I found this book really slow to get into and found that I didn't really care about the characters. The ending was better than I expected and it was an interesting concept for a book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment