Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans

8 reviews

jacemchale's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

When I finished this book I did "clutch it to [my] chest and think... finally, a book for the anxious queers with a sense of humor" and I loved every second of this book. I especially think that if I had found this book when I was closer to Bianca's age it would've hit even closer to home.
Bianca Torre is afraid of everything, and there's nothing more relatable. We never stop being afraid of everything, it's about continuing on despite the circumstances, and this book manages to impart that message while also being hilarious. This book is great for a range of ages, and queer fearful adults can also get a lot catharsis out of this book.
The humor, the topics (birds, theatre, anime, lesbian sheep, etc), the mystery, are all so engaging.

I'm really overjoyed that I found this book that my library recommended in a "blind date with a book" as having "a surprising amount of birds". There was a surprising amount of birds, but also it brought me a lot of unexpected joy to read something like this.
This book found the right reader ❤️

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tbd24's review

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense 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

loved this book! funny, surprisingly dark, very realistic. I have not yet read a YA coming out book that is also about other things that doesn’t sound clunky and shoehorned and like the author is afraid of getting cancelled lmao but this book pulls it off! Bianca is a very believable teenager with severe anxiety and on their way to personal self discovery when they witness a murder and are forced to do something about it. I literally laughed out loud at a handful of lines, and call me crazy but i was so delighted when Bianca and Anderson just skip school and smoke weed. We need more teen books about teens who act like teens. Anyway, yes, big fan, I found this book purely through happenstance and I loved every second of it

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-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

Oh, this was a delight. A little bit of a campy thriller, with Bianca figuring out their identity and learning to live with their fear and anxiety. Realizing they aren't as alone as they thought they were. I loved that it felt like this book didn't take itself too seriously, really allowing the characters to shine through. And there's a cute little romance too!

Bianca is definitely the star of the show, but Anderson is a close second. The best friend, and his family becomes like a second family to them. I would definitely read more adventures from them fore sure!

Also, highly recommend the audiobook. Vico Ortiz (from Our Flag Means Death) narrates it and does a fantastic job!

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emily_mh's review

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hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Unfortunately I wasn’t super engaged or captivated by this one because of the writing style. The author treats the reader as if they can’t think for themselves; for example, they’ll over-explain a joke, include unnecessary commentary, etc. It just felt too clumsy. Because of the writing style, the overall book was so bloated. Scenes went on for too long and there were scenes that didn’t need to be there at all. It could have been way more investigation-focussed.

The character development in the MC Bianca was well done, however. The anxiety rep was thorough and it was cool seeing them facing their fears. I also liked seeing them build up their little social spider web of support - very sweet. I do wish Anderson had been given more of an arc; there was room for it regarding his shame around anime but this didn’t go anywhere meaningful.

I thought the romance was cute! It really encapsulated the shyness of young love, and didn’t distract from the story which was appreciated. I also loved how many times the word lesbian was used.

But despite these positives, it always came back to the writing style which I never clicked with.

Rep: lesbian nonbinary MC w anxiety, pansexual Chinese-American LI, queer Black SC, Black trans SC, Black bisexual nonbinary minor character

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