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the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I really struggle to understand why people love this book so much. It just didn't connect at all for me, and I feel like I was missing something.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Classism
Minor: Racism
gdulecki's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Classism
ionlywishtorot'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
desiderium_incarnate'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol
kproc381'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
At first I was like… why would the author write it like that (if you know you know) and then when I got to understand the story more I realized that the lack of quotation marks that make you reread the paragraph makes you understand how miscommunication shows up in the book.
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Classism
ahubitsky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
this was genuinely really bad on multiple fronts. the most glaring problems are the stunning lack of character development, you’d think with several years of education and life under both marianne and connell’s belts by the end of the story they would’ve changed at least in some regard, but neither of them did. further, i fail to see how the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of a woman makes a compelling plotline, because make no mistake, this plot is purely abuse porn. it’s astounding the lack of agency that marianne has (willingly!). her rich background just makes her come off as a whiny bitch who can’t experience hardship in any way other than by inflicting it on herself, so she does, and in the process convinces herself shes oh so horrible.
not to mention (going back to the alleged “marxist themes”) in this book, it’s extremely interesting how this work is supposed to be marxist, but marianne LITERALLY commodifies herself as a piece of property to be transferred among owners. im pretty sure that commodification of property is something marxists are inherently against? seems like rooney either forgot the marx she read, or just proclaims herself a marxist to the media to give her work the flavor of quirkiness.
the synopsis on the back is also pretty bold, describing the book as a journey of “love and friendship,” when it’s really just a pornographic journey through self-deprecation by a girl who can’t help but act like a craigslist item to be transferred between abusers.
strongly recommend looking up trigger warnings, but even more i recommend avoiding this book altogether.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship
waytoomanybooks's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Marianne and Connell’s relationship is so fascinating though. It is so incredibly toxic, yet they clearly belong together at the same time. I think that their relationship is realistically portrayed, and I could sympathize with one or the other of them at different stages in their lives and their relationship. I think that is a testament to Rooney’s writing: feeling like I want/need to evaluate the characters, to pick a side, and to sympathize and empathize with them and why.
However, I hated the ending. Ambiguous endings infuriate me, especially when the ambiguity suggests what it suggests here. We’re really ending with
Before I read the last ⅓ of the book, I was expecting to give it a 4 out of 5, but seeing Marianne’s storyline and the ending get fumbled leads me to give it a 3 out of 5.
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
hduc's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
luketheplantfather's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment
harper11's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Minor: Racism