oceanwriter's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, and Addiction
Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, and Car accident
abbruzzese'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? It's complicated
4.5
"I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference," she said. "You know, actually change something."
"What, like 'change the world', you mean?"
"Not the whole world. Just the little bit around you."
I LOVED THIS. like omg. such a fun plot premise, great pacing, lovable main characters. i find that a lot of romance books have a couple in which one of them is the love of my life and the other is the most annoying person i've ever encountered, but dexter and emma were very well balanced, both to each other and with themselves.
the only part i didn't like was the ending.
Spoiler
it was not happy at all, which is what i was expecting. it was very jarring and seemed to come out of nowhere, for no reason. i suppose nicholls wrote it for the purpose of furthering dexter's character development, but there are lots of other ways to do that instead of killing off emma so randomly. don't get me wrong, i'm glad i read this and i enjoyed it immensely, but i can't say i would have devoured it (or even picked it up at all) had i known that the "happily ever after" the entire book was taking us towards just...doesn't happen.Graphic: Alcoholism and Death
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Drug use
jolineliest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
anewton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Infidelity
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, and Drug use
Minor: War and Vomit
megnzhang's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death
Minor: Drug use and Alcoholism
chaiteasophia'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
5.0
Moderate: Death
Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Drug use
thequiltyreader'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
3.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Terminal illness
Minor: Violence and Vomit
daisymayl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
haleylooloo's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Spoiler
but the book focused much less on the romance between the main characters and much more on their personal development. I appreciated the depictions of feeling lost and unsure what life or the future may hold, and I felt I could relate to Emma a lot. That being said, I got a bit annoyed at how long it took for them to finally get together (348 pages!), then only to have it all end 40 pages later. I also thought the ending was interesting but the whole last section was just a bit tedious to get through, especially the anniversary sections with Dex. Overall, Dex’s sections during his drug use eras were a bit drawn out at times.Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Alcohol, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Mental illness
sib_reads'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
2.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Infertility, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, and Infidelity
Moderate: Terminal illness, Violence, Classism, Blood, and Cancer
Minor: Sexual content