qrschulte'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
I didn’t find Sadie and Sam particularly likable, but I completely understood their motivations and their choices were believable.
This was a really ambitious book, and I think Zevin executed it really well. You can tell she put in a lot of time researching to make it realistic. It’s clearly a love letter to gaming, and I really appreciated the style of the different sections. I think it added a lot to the narrative. This is definitely a book that I will enjoy even more on a future read, though having a physical copy would make it easier to flip back to remind myself of different sections.
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Abortion, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Vomit, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and War
Not a true adult/minor relationship, but the power dynamic was definitely like one. The ableism is more internalized.olivia119'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
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
- 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
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
rachelizabeth2'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: Grief, Gun violence, and Self harm
boop_nicole'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
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Medical content, Murder, Addiction, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Violence, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Hate crime
Moderate: Abortion and Blood
Minor: Cursing, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Sexism
myk_yeah's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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.paulawind'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
4.75
I get why this book became so popular amongst Little Life lovers because this one is also a trauma and pain extravaganza. It starts innocent enough with two friends making games but halfway through the emotional pain starts and it only keeps getting worse and worse and worse till it became impossible for me to carry on reading. After a month-long break I came back, an apparent emotional masochist, to cry over Sam, over Sadie, over Marx, over their relationships, lack of thereof, their pain, their loneliness, their misunderstandings, their lack of communication, stubbornness, and that sheer amount of pure love that permeates every page.
The blurb is right - it is not a romance but it is story about love. It’s quite rare for books to put friendship at the forefront, with romance in the back, to show the complexities, messiness and importance of those connections that often transcend and outlast romantic relationships. Sadie and Sam’s story is epic. Often frustrating, overwhelming and contradictory but undeniably the most important connection in both their lives.
This book ripped my soul out, put my heart in the shredder and I’m saying thank you
Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racial slurs, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Blood, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Ableism, Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, Death, Murder, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Cancer, Gun violence, Medical content, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Cursing, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Death of parent
marinapaso11'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Grief, Sexism, Physical abuse, Suicide, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Racism, Homophobia, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Terminal illness, Vomit, and Sexual assault
flashandoutbreak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Abortion and Self harm
charitytinnin'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
1.0
This book has been celebrated as a book about lifelong friendship between a man and a woman. I see very little evidence of actual friendship here — at best, it’s a story of on/off colleagues; at worst, a story about a toxic friendship.
In depth thoughts:
I enjoyed the first part of this book so much. I mean, it had art and creativity, disability representation, a woman out to be the best in a sexist industry. And the marketing told me it was about a platonic friendship over decades! I was hooked.
Spoiler
And then Zevin killed off a lovely, supportive character needlessly. At least it seemed that way to me. It felt emotional manipulative the way that some Hoover, Picoult, and Sparks traumas are.Unfortunately, by the end I’d fallen out of love. In addition to the death, I didn’t think the disability rep was handled super well. Still, I wanted to love the platonic messy friendship of it all. I wanted to.
But it felt like Zevin tried to cover too many different hard things/traumas (disability, abuse, assault, abuse of power, gun violence, death, depression, abortion, suicide — and these are just a few I remember off the top of my head; the entire CW list is massive) and those got in the way. I’m not saying real people can’t experience all those traumas, because they do. I just think it’s hard for an author to handle them all well.
Most importantly, at the end, I wasn’t sure I *should* want the friendship to last; it felt too dysfunctional, and I wondered if they’d be better off finding other connections. Which made me feel like I wasted emotional energy on something I shouldn’t have.
Maybe the problem with my experience is the marketing. Maybe Zevin didn’t set out to write a book about a platonic friendship that survives and upholds the MCs throughout decades, which is what I feel like was marketed. If, instead, she set out to write a story about two individuals who survive despite the trauma and dysfunctionally around them, that would’ve been more satisfying to me personally. I’d still say her MCs experience too much trauma for that page count, but I wouldn’t have been rooting for their friendship to pull them through …. (In some ways, it did, but I’m not sure it was in a healthy way.)
I know most everyone else loves this book. I wish I could see what others are seeing. Unfortunately, I couldn’t.
Graphic: Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexism, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Murder
Moderate: Self harm, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Car accident, and Racism
Minor: Classism, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Abortion, and Cancer
Abuse of power in a professor/student relationship.