pointlessmoss's review
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The lesson I learned from this: white people need to stop meddling!! And they should also stop trying to outdo one another in an imaginary competition of "Who is the least racist" (unless it's for my personal amusement).
For real though, I LOVE the writing and the story and the characters. I feel like I was reading about real people, not made-up fictional characters. Emira has my heart. I enjoyed myself the whole time and I felt so satisfied with how everything came together. So glad I picked this book up :)
Part of me wants to recommend this to everyone I know, but the other part of me knows not everyone will get invested in a slice-of-life story with this type of writing. I also want to hear what other people took away from this book! I'm curious to see what other interpretations of the story might be, and what I may have missed!
For real though, I LOVE the writing and the story and the characters. I feel like I was reading about real people, not made-up fictional characters. Emira has my heart. I enjoyed myself the whole time and I felt so satisfied with how everything came together. So glad I picked this book up :)
Part of me wants to recommend this to everyone I know, but the other part of me knows not everyone will get invested in a slice-of-life story with this type of writing. I also want to hear what other people took away from this book! I'm curious to see what other interpretations of the story might be, and what I may have missed!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, and Racism
Moderate: Classism, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Animal death, Bullying, Police brutality, Fatphobia, and Stalking
ernilyc's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Fatphobia
Minor: Police brutality and Pregnancy
taylorsevalia's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
Moderate: Hate crime, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, and Body shaming
jasminn_perez's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-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
2.5
this book had a very fun storyline that could be interpreted as a thought provoking commentary on some foul ass white people or as just a fun story and i think i fell somewhere in the middle. i didnt love any of the characters (half of them were not meant to be loved) and i think i specifically just didnt personally identify with emira in the time of her life that she was in.
there were so many characters like both emira and alix had like five friends and i could not keep track of them all.
i think the moral of the story is that white people are crazy. alix’s infatuation with emira i found so fucking weird and frustrating and i think that it focused too much on her and i could not stand her. she was so controlling and i just could not understand her at all. ALSO WTF IS WRONG WITH HER WHY CANT SHE PARENT HER OWN KIDS. oh my god and i almost forgot there were some weird ass subtle fatphobia sprinkled throughout when talking about alix’s 140 pound body. she was calling herself fat constantly and i dont know if the author did this on purpose orr whats going on there. and i also havent heard anyone else say anything about that so idk. and kelley?? jesus christ. this man said the n word with a hard r and i was shocked to my core. because emira was so unbothered by the fact that this white man completely surrounded himself with black people i didnt really see a problem with it and i am so stupid for that. he was disgusting. he was so convinced that he knew what was best for emira AS A WHITE MAN. come on. alix got what she deserved but kelley deserved so much fucking worse. that man got off completely free and then was seen with a different black woman at the end??? oh my goooddddd
i think theres some important things to be taken away from this book. theres a lot on class and a perspective of a black woman that i think that non black people like myself can take from. but it was also some good fun drama LMAO.
there were so many characters like both emira and alix had like five friends and i could not keep track of them all.
i think the moral of the story is that white people are crazy. alix’s infatuation with emira i found so fucking weird and frustrating and i think that it focused too much on her and i could not stand her. she was so controlling and i just could not understand her at all. ALSO WTF IS WRONG WITH HER WHY CANT SHE PARENT HER OWN KIDS. oh my god and i almost forgot there were some weird ass subtle fatphobia sprinkled throughout when talking about alix’s 140 pound body. she was calling herself fat constantly and i dont know if the author did this on purpose orr whats going on there. and i also havent heard anyone else say anything about that so idk. and kelley?? jesus christ. this man said the n word with a hard r and i was shocked to my core. because emira was so unbothered by the fact that this white man completely surrounded himself with black people i didnt really see a problem with it and i am so stupid for that. he was disgusting. he was so convinced that he knew what was best for emira AS A WHITE MAN. come on. alix got what she deserved but kelley deserved so much fucking worse. that man got off completely free and then was seen with a different black woman at the end??? oh my goooddddd
i think theres some important things to be taken away from this book. theres a lot on class and a perspective of a black woman that i think that non black people like myself can take from. but it was also some good fun drama LMAO.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Racial slurs
Minor: Fatphobia
aviscomi11's review
dark
emotional
funny
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
This book had two of the most well written, ethically ambiguous characters I can ever remember reading. This is also one of the first books I've read that has written a lot of young-child dialogue that is authentic, funny, and endearing without ever being overly sweet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Police brutality and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Fatphobia
elihegy's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Fatphobia
madelinedalton's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
One of the characters is obsessed with her weight and mentions her weight in pounds as well as a couple details about food she can/can’t eat.bookswithgeorgia's review against another edition
reflective
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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Fatphobia, and Hate crime
cammiem8's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Wow, were these characters frustrating! And I know that was the point, and their interactions were interesting and made me listen through it very quickly. Although what Alix/Alex did was objectively worse, I couldn’t help but despise Kelley more than any of the other characters, he just came off to me as so slimy and pretty much got off scotch free in the end. Also have to say the kid was really annoying. I find myself really wanting to talk about this book, and I’ll certainly be thinking about it for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs
Moderate: Fatphobia, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Body shaming, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death
sophielaurence's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Racism