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bella_cavicchi'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
4.0
In short: another Angie Kim winner. I'm pleased.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Infidelity, Racism, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Rape, Violence, Colonisation, and War
thekatreturns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Yeah, aside from this being a book that I’m heartened is doing well in sales and reviews because its message is so crucial for the world to understand- this is a great book and it is not at all too preachy about said message.
Many other reviewers found Mia annoying, but it was extremely easy for me to get into her head. Probably because we have pretty much the same personality and thought patterns. I didn’t find anything annoying, but then again I am a huge sucker for footnotes in literature. I enjoyed the morphing of her observations
The other criticism I found in reviews of the book was that it went too deep into philosophy and the mystery of the
Which brings me to my final point. This is not a 5 star book for me, and it so, so easily could have been. I desperately wanted to
Also, sorry if it seems disrespectful that I’ve referred to the author as Angie throughout, just a habit in transcribing my previously orally expressed thoughts. I mean full respect when I say that everyone who’s ever been criticized for something they write should listen and learn like she has very clearly done.
Graphic: Ableism and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, and Murder
Minor: Rape and War
_david_'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? It's complicated
4.0
The main character shows some bad behavious: making quick assumptions, speaking around a nonspeaking character instead of to them, and just acting as a general teenager. However, the future main character, whose POV we're following, calls her past self out on it and voices her shame. In general I feel like Mia would've made more sense as a teenager than someone in college/uni.
The author's background in philosophy shines through, especially in the exploration of happiness. It's clearly written by someone with an academic background.
The ending left a positive lasting impression. I'm sure I will think back on it often during the rest of my life.
The reason that I'm giving the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because the writer POV often annoyed me with her perspective. I specifically refer to all the moments which said something along the lines of "but with the information I know now, why [odd thing] happened made sense" without any further explanation. It happened too much and sometimes for relatively minor occurrences. It disrupted the flow of the story and was hard to take serious after a while. A small point that I disliked but not enough to affect the score, that only Mia, Adam (the dad) and Eugene were well rounded characters. Hannah (the mother) and especially John were quite flat eventhough they were very important to the story.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Classism
ncamp214's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
After reading the acknowledgements I was FLOORED that she choose to write a book about a debunked method of communication called FC. While I am not well researched in the Autism or non-speaking communities, from I have read, writing a book on this topic seems to be at best irresponsible.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
Minor: Rape and War
annoyedhumanoid'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
4.0
- wasn't as gripping. it started to drag three-fourths of the way through, and i got fed up with all the cheap foreshadowing of the form "looking back, i wish [x] hadn't happened".
- didn't feel as expertly-crafted. though i recognize that's kind of the point—
not all mysteries, especially missing person cases, have neat solutions; that's life —it was still somewhat disappointing. i'm trying tolearn the lesson Mia did and accept an open ending—i choose to believe that her and John's mind-meld recreating the accident was a display of fraternal jeong, just the tiniest bit of magical realism.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Hate crime, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Alcohol, and Deportation