Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

17 reviews

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mass/school shootings, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Body horror, Confinement, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Physical abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Misogyny, Bullying, Xenophobia, Abortion, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

leonormsousa's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Vomit, Suicide, Physical abuse, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Abortion, Alcohol, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexism, Car accident, Bullying, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Death, Mental illness, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

4.75

The faux biography Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin astounds at every possible juncture. Centring a pair of marginalized video game developers and their rise to fame, her book delves deep into the psyche of both major characters. She plots their success at forming their game company Unfair Games, their fights (creative and personal), the consequences of their success, their separation and their reunion. Every character leaps off the page and demands to be a player, not an NPC, and the characters' pasts heavily influence their development and their actions. I have never read a book so enthralling, so personal, or so realistic. I eagerly await more from Zevin and her incredible mind!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Ableism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Misogyny, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Abortion, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

Sadie's grandparents are Holocaust survivors, and Sadie's pre-Unfair game is about Nazi collaborators.

birdyreader's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Misogyny, Abortion, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Car accident, Racism, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Death of parent, Suicide, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Domestic abuse, Blood, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Car accident, Homophobia, and Medical content

olivia119's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual violence, Ableism, Body horror, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Mass/school shootings

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Great writing, super nerdy 3 👾 TLDR woman does all the work and gets 0 credit… typical 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

squidknees's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

Like The Fault in our Stars like A Little Life like Normal People Sally Rooney

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Gun violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Cancer, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Abandonment, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Classism, Abortion, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Vomit, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body shaming, and Toxic relationship

ashybear02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, and Racial slurs

myk_yeah's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

"Are the flaws of the main characters a main focus of the book?" Yes. That's like the whole book.
I understand the hype, in a way I loved this book. But I'm also really conflicted. 
First off, you need so many trigger warnings for this book my gosh. None of the coverage of the book prepared me for that. 
I am not disabled, so I can't speak to how realistic the disability representation was, but what I didn't like was how steeped in pitty it all was. The framing the book took was to see Sam's disability through the lens of pity, offered by his rich, able-bodied peers. There's a moment where Sam is described as being confident and in his zone, and the narration says that his limp was diminished, or something like that. I wish the book would have accepted Sam for how he was, instead of seeing his disability as something that made him infantilized in a way Marx and Sadie never were. 

The major abusive romantic relationship in the book was disappointing to read as a survivor. More on that the spoiler section. There's also a SA scene that is not framed as SA. (Probably because it was a woman sexually touching a man who didn't want to be touched) Made my stomach turn. 

Oh and the very casual and consistent zionism. Thumbs down there.

I did love having a story about a platonic relationship. It makes you realize how rare that is to see in media and fiction. These people are messy, and bad to each other, and I liked it. I thought it was realistic. I like how it showed the impacts of trauma on how we act towards one another. And how you can get a story wrapped up in your head about what's going on when you don't communicate. I love how it showed how far we'll go for the ones we love and how beautiful it is to create together. 
The Pioneer chapter was outstanding, just magic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Sexual assault, Self harm, Car accident, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, Medical content, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Bullying

Spoiler

The final scene with Dov made me want to be sick. The way he was still in the story and able to excuse his behavior by saying "oh I used to be so shitty didn't I" when we have clues that he's the same as he was before. I needed a little more from the book to frame him as wrong.

I do think the drama of the plot was heavy-handed personally. I think the book was dark and it didn't always serve the story. Sometimes it felt like a distraction from the story. This book really has the kitchen sink of traumatic experiences in it and I think we could have done with one less. I think the book would have been even better if it was pared down a bit, a little simpler. And I know I personally would have enjoyed it better if it was lighter in tone overall, I don't want to suffer too much when I read. It did move me, I felt a lot the whole way through and I loved that.