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nreyno's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy
americattt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-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
3.75
“Her sister's husband went to a garage sale one afternoon and purchased like fifty Beanie Babies. This, too, was one of the remedies for grief. Someone had sat them on little stools in their display cases, so they would not get tired—of what?—of the long direct daylight of being Beanie Babies. Someone had cared for them. Perhaps everyone was a god with their eye on some small sparrow. Perhaps everyone was the collector of some soft rare commemorative, stitched with a visible heart and worth millions on millions in the mind.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Abortion
rory_john14's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, and Classism
annaofjesup's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content and Pregnancy
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, and Abortion
flavoredfaeman's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content and Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion
libbyluvr's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
oh what a pleasure it is to laugh this much, then cry an equal amount
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy
lorenag5's review
challenging
funny
reflective
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
breauseph's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
My greatest hope is that readers believe this book. I've been working in digital media for ten years, and the accuracy and clear-sightedness with which Lockwood manages to portray what it's like to be a content creator, to be Extremely Online, was surreal, particularly in the moments when it felt like the narrator was scratching at the inside of her own skull, trying to figure out whether her thoughts were her own, trying to understand what a legacy means when THIS is what you do for a living. Also spookily accurate was the second half of the book, the effect of tragedy and real, breathing life on your thoughts, your sense of legacy. This was catharsis. I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, and Medical trauma
From my perspective, this book does a good job of celebrating disability and difference. There is a key character with a serious genetic disorder who is cherished, admired, loved, and encouraged for exactly who she is.withlivjones's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is a book about a minor internet celebrity whose perspective on life and how much of it is spent on the internet is completely changed when her family undergoes a tragedy. The first half of the book is very much no plot just vibes as the protagonist narrates her social-media-focused life, but the second half of the book, which focuses on her real life, is where it really steps up and becomes so profound and beautiful - sometimes it’s the little stories, the ones that don’t make the news, that most deserve to be told.
I thought that the writing was very clever: the whole thing is structured in small, Tweet-like sections of prose in reference to the theory that humans’ attention spans are getting shorter because of social media; the tone of the narration is littered with dark humour because many people nowadays use humour to cope with how awful life is; and the book perfectly captures the internet culture of the late 2010s - the period between the 2016 election and the pandemic when we all thought life couldn’t get any worse! - and yet at the same time there are so many absolutely beautiful lines, and you can easily tell that this is a book that was crafted with love.
I’m sure that a lot of the references will go over the heads of those lucky enough to not be chronically online, and it’s so much a product of its time that it will become outdated in a decade or so, but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this book gets taught to the literature classes of the far future to get a good idea of the cultural zeitgeist of the Trump era, and those future children will stare at words like “binch” and “sneazing” with the same level of bewilderment as our parents, and the cycle will continue.
I thought that the writing was very clever: the whole thing is structured in small, Tweet-like sections of prose in reference to the theory that humans’ attention spans are getting shorter because of social media; the tone of the narration is littered with dark humour because many people nowadays use humour to cope with how awful life is; and the book perfectly captures the internet culture of the late 2010s - the period between the 2016 election and the pandemic when we all thought life couldn’t get any worse! - and yet at the same time there are so many absolutely beautiful lines, and you can easily tell that this is a book that was crafted with love.
I’m sure that a lot of the references will go over the heads of those lucky enough to not be chronically online, and it’s so much a product of its time that it will become outdated in a decade or so, but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this book gets taught to the literature classes of the far future to get a good idea of the cultural zeitgeist of the Trump era, and those future children will stare at words like “binch” and “sneazing” with the same level of bewilderment as our parents, and the cycle will continue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Abortion
matcha_pages's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-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
3.0
I listened to the audio version, which probably made the first half of the book harder to follow along. The main character is famous on Portal, a social media platform, and slowly becomes addicted. Until a family emergency pulls her back to reality.
The first half was tougher to get through, it was hit or miss with it's satirical musings on social media (the Portal), politics, and our generation's views. The second half of the book was really moving and humanizing. We switch gears to a more cohesive story, which is much more my speed.
When you stand back and look at the two writing styles it makes sense - the first half is filled with nonsensical, comment style observations (like posting in the Portal), while the second half fills the pages with emotions and images (like reality). Not my favorite book, but I appreciate the artistic style.
The first half was tougher to get through, it was hit or miss with it's satirical musings on social media (the Portal), politics, and our generation's views. The second half of the book was really moving and humanizing. We switch gears to a more cohesive story, which is much more my speed.
When you stand back and look at the two writing styles it makes sense - the first half is filled with nonsensical, comment style observations (like posting in the Portal), while the second half fills the pages with emotions and images (like reality). Not my favorite book, but I appreciate the artistic style.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Terminal illness
Moderate: Grief