Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Paper Cup

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

georgie_mb's review

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

For the majority of this, I was completely and utterly in love. I loved our flawed main character, the writing style and the contrast between bustling Glasgow and the small towns of Galloway (especially in the phonetic language, very clever)!

Being a dog lover, Collie of course won my heart, and I loved watching the bond between him and Kelly grow.

It didn’t quite reach 5 stars for me towards the end because of two things:

1. I didn’t like the fact that the story lines of other characters didn’t go anywhere. I felt like their stories had been cut short, and that what had been put in before seemed a bit unnecessary. They could have been told through other characters and not have whole chapters dedicated to them to then lead nowhere.

2. The attraction between Dex and Kelly came out of nothing and it really didn’t stick with me. It seemed very unnecessary again, there was no lead up whatsoever! It’s almost like Dex magically fell in love with her on the drive down 🤦🏼‍♀️

Pr product as part of the Canongate July readalong

Content Warnings

kellyinbookland's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

readingisadoingword's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-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

4.0

Another great choice from The Scottish Book Club and another I'd never have read myself.

Paper Cup introduces us to Kelly, a homeless alcoholic living on the streets of Glasgow, who has a complicated past. A combination of mishap and tragedy result in her undertaking a pilgrimage back to her hometown. Along the way we learn more about her, good and bad, and we meet various characters she encounters along the way, kind and otherwise.

This book offers an unflinching insight into the trials of being homeless within the system, the complications and pitfalls, and how easy it is to fall through the racks. It shows us the ugly and heartbreaking side of alcoholism as well as people's capacity for forgiveness. It focuses on human interaction - good and bad - and how we can never really know at first glance, what's going on with another person or their full story.

I loved Kelly and Collie and this was an immersing and eye-opening read.

Content Warnings

smariee's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

amys_hygge_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.0

Do they think folk want to live like this? Crusted with their own filth? Cold and old and hungry? Wanting to be seen, and be unseen. Wanting to be present, even in their self-appointed margins. Do they think it’s a choice to be scared and lonely? For life to beat you up so fucking hard that you welcome the beatings, because it’s all you’re good for?

Paper Cup by Karen Campbell was chosen for @another.chapter.podcast January read along, and when I found out the book centred around a main character who is homeless, I knew I had to join along.

The Story 📚
Kelly has been homeless for years. She rough sleeps on the streets of Glasgow, drifting in and out of various services - ultimately trying to stay alive. After an encounter with a stranger, Kelly finds herself on a journey to return something that does not belong to her. We follow Kelly and get an insight into what her life is like, and also the various people she crosses paths with on the way. But, the journey is in the direction of her hometown, and Kelly knows it’s time for her to look at what happened in her past.

The Review 📝
As a social care worker who has worked in homeless services in Dublin, I loved Kelly. I feel like I have met so many people like her through my work. The descriptions were so accurate of her daily life, the struggles of being a woman who is homeless while battling an addiction. On a personal level I enjoyed her insight into the professionals and services she interacted with - and how they either supported or failed her.

I won’t lie, parts of this story did bore me however. There was a lot of descriptions of the pilgrimage route that she took, which is just something that doesn’t interest me. But for Kelly’s story, I stuck with it and enjoyed. Will definitely recommend it to some social care friends.

The chats have been great around this book, really interesting to hear everyone’s take! Honestly a topic I could talk for hours on! So apologies for the the long messages to anyone in the group chat 🙈

Would definitely recommend as an insight into homelessness. The book really came alive as an audiobook book, great narration 🎧

Content Warnings

reads_eats_explores's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny 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

keirahelena_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful sad slow-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

More...