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michaelion'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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Genocide
Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Vomit, Abortion, and Colonisation
felofhe'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
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lo_the_wren'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: Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
lulialof'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
3.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation
rynaissanceenby'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: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, and Car accident
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Antisemitism, and Abortion
carlytenille'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
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
chloel29'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
3.0
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
bfair's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Eating disorder
hanloc'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
The fictional elements are very well woven into the contemporary world, I believe there really is an unfair games with developers Sam and Sadie.
Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Car accident
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Eating disorder and Abortion
squidface'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
4.5
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adored this book, flaws and all (which is definitely one of the themes of the book - loving someone wholly despite their flaws and your flaws). I loved the literary references, the use of Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson, and thought it was interesting that those things fell away as the characters got older - but yet it was sort of a turning plot point in the later third of the book to bring Macbeth back in so the characters could emotionally connect again (sorry if this doesn't make much sense, I'm trying to keep the review as spoiler free as possible).
I felt, as others have pointed out, that Zevin was using some kind of word of the day thing and tried to shoehorn in as many random words as possible. Tuberose was overused as an adjective. She misused the word tautology (who proofed this?).
I disagree with whoever said she clearly doesn't understand music - those observations about Miles Davis et al in the book are made from a character point of view and definitely aren't the views of the author.
Although I did at times find the characters to be thinly veiled versions of parts of Zevin, for the most part they're adorkable.
Despite the flaws, I think Zevin is an amazing and accomplished writer. And this book is definitely worth a read.
For me it actually could have gone into more elaboration about the games world itself and the business side of it, but I suppose in the end the book focused on relationships between people, and that's what mattered more, because it played to it's strengths.
Minor: Ableism, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail