Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

18 reviews

meg_sm's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, and Infidelity

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed Nic Stone’s previous work. This year, I have been trying to read more books from authors I previously enjoyed. I love the Dear Martin series and saw this book in Waterstones and decided to read more of her work. 

This book is based on two points of view. The first is Shelbi and since she has enrolled at Windward Academy as a senior and won’t be there very long, she hasn’t bothered making friends. What her classmates don’t know about her can’t be used to hurt her, you know like it did at her last school. The second point of view is Andy and he is not okay. At all. He's had far too much to drink. Again, which is bad. And things are about to get worse. When Shelbi sees Andy at his lowest, she can relate. So she doesn’t resist reaching out. And there’s no doubt their connection has them both seeing stars, but the closer they get, the more the past threatens to pull their universes apart.  

Everyone should read this book, I don’t care if you are a child, a young adult, a new adult or in your fifties or sixties. Read this book. It is such a good book based on bipolar disorder, mental health, grief of a sibling and alcoholism within young adults. I love how this book is a young adult book, but Nic doesn’t talk down about the importance of mental health. I loved Shelby and Andy, I wanted to hug them both throughout the book and wanted to let them know they are both important and loved. I am also really glad this book didn’t end with suicide, like I thought it was going to.  

It took me a while to get into this book mainly because I wanted to smack the shit out of the parents. Also, I would have loved for them to have a happy ending. A fully-blown reunion rather than the text message epilogue. 

Also, thank God, for having a character after my name that isn’t a complete tool like Becky Bloomwood, because I never thought I would read about a character named Becky that I liked and didn’t want to punch.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Abortion

Minor: Miscarriage, Car accident, and Pregnancy

thebookkeepers's review

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

A wonderful and complex young adult story which focuses on the friendship and relationships of two teenagers both dealing with their own grievances of life, family drama, and mental health struggles. I love how this author aims to overcome the mental health stigma with this story while also educating the reader about how varied those struggles can look. This book covered heavy topics & I’d recommend checking triggers if you have any that you avoid. Even with the heavy content, this book is about hope and empowerment. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abortion

lizzie_b99's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Self harm, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Medical content

greenlivingaudioworm's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

zombiezami's review

medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Homophobia and Religious bigotry

mishale1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Nic Stone sure is a great writer! I tore through her Dear Martin and Dear Justyce books and pre-ordered this one. Then I let it linger on my shelf a bit cause I knew it would be emotional and I wasn't sure it was the best time for an emotional read. But I finally  picked it up yesterday and, big surprise, tore through it. I almost finished this in one day too.

The author covers some majorly serious, and also sad, issues. There are content warnings galore. I won’t spoil the storyline by going into them but please check the content warnings to make sure you feel like reading this when you do. But I also want to say that despite my own hesitation because I worried that it would be sad and heavy, I found this to be incredibly readable. It felt hopeful. At the end, I was happy with the way the epilogue wrapped up the story,

Sure, this is a love story but it’s a love story between two young individuals dealing with some major stuff. I felt like this was more about their support of each other, and their connection, than anything else. They could pour out their hearts to each other and not feel judged. For Shelbi especially, that’s something she never thought she’d feel again outside her family.

I think I’ll leave my review at that. Because if I keep talking I’m going to wind up talking about Shelbi and Andy’s backstories and they’re not on the book jacket so they’re probably spoilers. So I’m just going to say that I really enjoyed this book and really respect this author’s skill. Can’t wait to see what she’s got lined up next.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Infidelity

jaz_gets_literary's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity and Vomit

Minor: Bullying, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Pregnancy

lyssie03's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Child death and Abortion

Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

jennneely82's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Another good one written by Nic Stone. In this book she tackles mental illness and alcoholism and how it affects a relationship between two recent high school graduates.  Open your heart and mind to people struggling with illnesses and diseases you may not understand. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Self harm, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, and Abortion

Minor: Car accident and Pregnancy