Reviews tagging 'Death'

Bellies by Nicola Dinan

52 reviews

n_rts's review against another edition

challenging dark 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: Death

adampjt's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Transphobia and Car accident

emily_schlegel's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Eating disorder, Transphobia, and Death of parent

astylecollector's review against another edition

emotional

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, and Car accident

orireading's review against another edition

emotional 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

this was really wonderful and beautiful and also prob not what I needed as a young cancer patient facing my mortalityyy

and also relatable re: intrusive thoughts about how friends would handle my death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

yleavy's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

2.75

Some sweet moments, and I can see why people like this book. The characters all have moments of charm in that “uni student who thinks they are quirky” sort of way. The dialogue felt like it was coming from an afterschool special, with the characters using therapy words or helping each other reach a profound revelation in every conversation. Without the tense changes, the characters’ POVs would be difficult to tell apart, and the analogies were often more distracting than fitting. Examples include “our tongues shook hands” and “my heart grows thicker”. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Deadnaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Transphobia, Vomit, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

charlizzzard_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.75

One of the best books I've ever read. It was so achingly honest and sad. A must-read, by all accounts! Thank you to the lady in Waterstones who recommended it to me!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Transphobia

imlfox's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming

elizaob's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Minor: Transphobia

gibetal's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this! I did find it a bit slow at times in the beginning, but I raced through the second half. A really interesting exploration of trans & queerness and some of the “behind the scenes” relationship stuff that may not immediately come to mind. 

For me, Dinan’s strengths here were 1) fantastically fleshed-out cast of characters that had distinct voices, and 2) genuinely funny moments that didn’t feel too try-hard or out of place. Light & heavy moments were perfectly balanced so that you can feel the depth of their pain but still want to spend time in the world. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Car accident