freddie_mercury05's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Cursing
Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Self harm, Rape, and Suicide attempt
ellie_murdock's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/injury detail, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Torture, Domestic abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Mental illness, Infertility, Gun violence, and Grief
wretchedclownie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide attempt and Violence
mariroenningen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Suicide attempt
whateverjeans23's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
cdoubet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Infertility, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Pregnancy and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying
iamsofiaoliveira's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
It’s decent, like a 6.0 or 6.5. Some of the main issues I have are the following:
Spoiler
1. The names and characterizations. The perfect example of this is the main character is called Lilly Bloom Blossom and owns a flower shop, but Coleen tries to make this lazy characterization by having the character acknowledge the fact that it is indeed ridiculous or ironic that she has such a name and that she owns a flower shop. Also names like Ryle Kincaid and Atlas just feel so random, and their jobs just seem way to convenient and lazy as well. Ryle being 27 years old and a surgeon who wants to be a neurosurgeon because he shot his brother and killed him is not necessarily bad but still feels very lazy and almost unrealistic. Atlas being a chef at a fancy restaurant (and I think owner as well) while also being the server just feels goofy and almost like Colleen never worked at a restaurant (but me neither so I really can’t comment on that).>2. The way suicide was portrait in the book. Honestly, I don’t see enough people comment on this part of Atlas story arc and see more people talking about the age gap (which is such a non issue in the context of Lilly and Atlas). The way Colleen wrote about Atlas’ suicide attempt made it seem like she was clueless about it in my opinion. Atlas is a character who has faced abuse by his parents and tries to commit suicide after being left for dead in the streets at the age of 17, and for some reason Colleen thought it was a good idea to have him stop from killing himself because he saw Lilly in her bedroom window and because he thought she looked like an angel. That’s such a watered down and harmful way of portraying suicide. If Colleen wanted to portray this correctly, she could have maybe talked about having suicidal thoughts but that he kept going because of Lilly’s kindness or something. Literally anything but what she wrote would’ve worked.
3. The way Colleen ended the book. It doesn’t feel like the correct resolution for me. We have a character that is so traumatized to the point of having moments of rage of which he has no control of and in which he causes harm and causes him to be very abusive, and he just gets to not only walk away free but to also have custody of a baby?! I understand that Ryle is the way it his because of trauma and that what he does is something that he can’t control (and that he tried to do his best to not get to that point), but am I really supposed to believe that there’s nothing wrong with a man who has rage blackouts to simply be able to hang out with a child without supervision?! It seems that Colleen wants the readers to simply be sympathetic towards Ryle and be okay with the arrangement but in the end it is not okay. Sure, Ryle has a specific condition that causes him to blackout in rage which can be triggered in many forms, but that should serve as justification for him to not be able to be around his child without supervision — it should serve as justification as to why he shouldn’t be around a kid or Lilly without someone to supervise said meetings. Personally, I’d be okay with how the book ended if at the very least Ryle had to get mandatory therapy and anger management meeting along with supervised visitations, then it would’ve been an okay compromise. Colleen doesn’t do that. If anything, it seems like the only consequence is Lilly breaking up with him, there’s no more consequence to his dangerous behavior.
4. Cringy moments. Honestly there where moments that should’ve been scrapped beucase they were just cringe, like the compost thing when Lilly said that being covered by cow shit by Atlas made her horny like ma’am why did you write this? It’s just BAD.
That’s all for now but those are the main issues with the book that I have. I really can’t comment on how well it portrays the experience with domestic abuse since I didn’t experience that personally. The writing is accessible and I can’t really make a complain about her writing style besides maybe a few phrases that felt like a waste of ink. I still enjoyed the rest but I do not consider this the pinnacle of fiction like some fans of the author consider her lmfao. Anyways I’m not a book reviewer so 🤪
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide attempt
fae_daria's review
- 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
Although there were some instances where I didn't enjoy the writing style, and I found some sexual content unnecessary, I ended up loving the book. Mainly loving Atlas, but that's just me =D
This book, I believe, should be judged, but to an extent, because it's so autobiographical. I think the abuse is described very well, and I fully understood Lily's confusion, her hurt, her love, her thought-process. The writing may be a little weird at times, but it does a great job at encapsulating what really matters: the struggle to leave a relationship that has given you years of happiness, because of five minutes of abuse.
In conclusion, I really loved this book, and it's one of the most empowering and inspirational books I have ever read.
PS: I adore Atlas.
Graphic: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide attempt
jfield351's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Grief, Cursing, Child abuse, Bullying, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Suicide attempt, Rape, and Terminal illness
fratobkk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Suicide attempt