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storyoflife's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I wasn’t sure I still enjoyed audiobooks; if they could keep me interested and focused on listening and Im unsure why I started with the 17hrs long one, but I don’t regret it at all. The narrator’s voices are soothing (Rhodes voice especially so) and the pace wasn’t a problem (though I do read much faster alone).
Regarding the work itself: I liked and resonated with the lovable characters and felt neutral about the writing style (maybe a bit too humorous for me- especially the pee-comments got annoying?) furthermore I enjoyed the pace very much.
The biggest shortcoming in my opinion would be that I missed some scenes or felt like they got cut short (the first meetings with THE FAMILY?! There are so many opportunities for insight into their character development and impact on each other I was so sure we were going to get an arc there and thus felt robbed -I still can’t believe we never actually got an interaction between all three of the parents??).
And on opposite side of the spectrum some aspects of her life got highlighted a bit too much for my liking: her job, the peeing (I get that that’s an inside joke, but at some point I tired of it) and her grieving her mother after her remains had been found (don’t know why that bothered me so much, but I felt like that didn’t fit into the story- at least at that point- and I heard it at 2 times the speed).
I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t ground breaking and I don’t know if I’d confidently recommend it tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
witcheep's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
This is a wholesome read about finding your people and your place in the world. I love how the book depicts grief respectfully and shows how new interpersonal relationships – with not just romantic love but all kinds of love – build over time and give you happiness. The main characters Aurora, Rhodes, and his son Amos revolve around each others lives, slowly getting more involved with each other and forming beautiful, meaningful relationships together. The beginning of the book felt s little slow to me, but once I got invested in the main characters' lives, I loved seeing their mundane life changing and intertwining with the others'.
The forming relationships show how the characters get more comfortable with each other, which results into their communication getting from easily misinterpreting the other one to expressing themselves more clearly and being able to read the others' nonverbal communication easily. The result is that the main characters have good communication throughout the rest of the book: even when there are difficulties or disruptions to this, the main characters always follow through with a conversation about the situation.
The bonus epiloque has Aurora and Rhodes discussing the love languages of the important people in their lives while on a hike with Amos, and that shows the best aspects of this book: good, open communication and love that is shown in so many ways in the whole book.
The audiobook has one narrator from the pov of the main character Aurora, but there's another reader voice for the male characters – that works really well and gives those characters added depth, making you immerse yourself into the story more.
The forming relationships show how the characters get more comfortable with each other, which results into their communication getting from easily misinterpreting the other one to expressing themselves more clearly and being able to read the others' nonverbal communication easily. The result is that the main characters have good communication throughout the rest of the book: even when there are difficulties or disruptions to this, the main characters always follow through with a conversation about the situation.
The bonus epiloque has Aurora and Rhodes discussing the love languages of the important people in their lives while on a hike with Amos, and that shows the best aspects of this book: good, open communication and love that is shown in so many ways in the whole book.
The audiobook has one narrator from the pov of the main character Aurora, but there's another reader voice for the male characters – that works really well and gives those characters added depth, making you immerse yourself into the story more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
bluejayreads17's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Minor: Sexual harassment