jennyshelby's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Mental illness, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
astrumillustris's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit and Eating disorder
Moderate: Body shaming
mariambbd's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape
loverarchives's review
emotional
reflective
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
3.5
A sometimes relatable, often irritating main character tries to find her footing in the world. The book moves at a meandering pace before rushing to the end, I both wish the ending was further explored yet also removed at the same time. An enjoyable read nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Sexual assault
alexlucy's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Eating disorder
annakillilea's review
dark
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
2.0
Lots of potential and a good representation of mental illness amongst existential dread. Way too much ED content and body shaming to enjoy the excellent writing though :/ Sophie’s resolution was too rushed to be compelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Sexual assault
introvertsbookclub's review
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
From the uncertainty of the future, and the impossibility of finding a job that you enjoy and pays the bills, to the lure and inescapability of the internet, and the difficulty of knowing people when they can create an alternate version of themselves online, this novel encapsulates so many of the anxieties that twenty-somethings have in a way that is relatable without ever being condescending. Social media starts out as a distraction and a coping mechanism but soon begins to exacerbate the toxic elements of the protagonist’s relationships with friends and family. Although a lot of the novel took place online, it brought online conversations into the real world, through debates and conversations around gender, privilege and politics. It recreated the internet and the way it interacts with and leaks into the real world perfectly. The way the author wrote friendships was so realistic, the spaces between what is said and what is meant, the small power struggles, the difficulty of working out when to cut someone out of your life. It feels like a novel for the generation of young people graduating in a post-pandemic world, and yet the portrayals of relationships are timeless.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Eating disorder
wordsofclover's review
mysterious
reflective
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
3.5
22-year-old Sophie has no idea what she's going to do next. She's graduated college and isn't having much luck with her job and living with her parents with no hope of ever moving out and affording rent let alone buying her own home in the future. When a large crack appears in the sky, Sophie's social media obsession becomes even worse as she juggles boys, friendships and a contentious relationship with her twin sister - and not to mention the ever looming presence of the crack and what it means for humanity.
This book is an interesting one. I feel like I loved it for all the different things it and the characters had to say about the world as it is right now - especially for young Irish people, but I can also see where in parts it was overdone and pretentious and how others wouldn't have gotten on with the book. I think it's very 'of the now' book - the social media obsession, the problems young people are facing as they leave college and can't get jobs, can't afford rent and already stress over ever owning a house, emigration and then all the normal things of body image, romance problems and friendships changing and evolving.
Sophie as a character is fairly complex. She is probably one of the most self-absorbed yet at the same time incredibly insecure characters I've ever followed and while that should bring on a certain amount of empathy, there were times I just didn't like Sophie and found her a little bit of w whingebag and also not a particularly good friend to Grace (MVP of this book in my opinion) and her other friend Dan who is struggling with loneliness after emigrating.
I think Sophie's relationship with social media is obviously one of the biggest things in the book, as well as the biggest relationship in the book as well as Sophie obsessively finds herself down rabbit holes on Twitter, listening to podcasts deep into the night and exploring conspiracy theories about the crack. People Sophie's age have grown up surrounded by social media and it's become like their right hand and without it they feel lost and it's often what they use to help them understand the world. I think with time and age, distance from social media becomes easier as real life takes over - relationships, jobs, responsibility but Sophie is not there yet and effectively, without a job, has all the time on the world to spend on her phone.
I actually really liked the presence of the crack in the sky and it's ever presence in the book, always in the background. In a way I wondered if it was a stand in for something like the pandemic, and if not, definitely inspired by it - and I think it was a brilliant way to show that when unexplainable, scary things happen, life still more or less goes on as normal. Worldwide pandemic? Life stopped for a while but a majority of everyday normal things happened and now the world is more or less back to the way it was. Ukrainian War? Everyone is still doing their day-to-day activities albeit with a heavier cost of living situation but parties, romance, school and life is still happening every day.
I think this book is clever, and while I would have liked maybe a couple less conversations about capitalism (listen you talk about capitalism, you'll get compared to Sally Rooney and that's that), I think the author understand the mind of a twenty-something very well and all the fears and insecurities people can have when they're young and life still feels very unknown and scary.
This book is an interesting one. I feel like I loved it for all the different things it and the characters had to say about the world as it is right now - especially for young Irish people, but I can also see where in parts it was overdone and pretentious and how others wouldn't have gotten on with the book. I think it's very 'of the now' book - the social media obsession, the problems young people are facing as they leave college and can't get jobs, can't afford rent and already stress over ever owning a house, emigration and then all the normal things of body image, romance problems and friendships changing and evolving.
Sophie as a character is fairly complex. She is probably one of the most self-absorbed yet at the same time incredibly insecure characters I've ever followed and while that should bring on a certain amount of empathy, there were times I just didn't like Sophie and found her a little bit of w whingebag and also not a particularly good friend to Grace (MVP of this book in my opinion) and her other friend Dan who is struggling with loneliness after emigrating.
I think Sophie's relationship with social media is obviously one of the biggest things in the book, as well as the biggest relationship in the book as well as Sophie obsessively finds herself down rabbit holes on Twitter, listening to podcasts deep into the night and exploring conspiracy theories about the crack. People Sophie's age have grown up surrounded by social media and it's become like their right hand and without it they feel lost and it's often what they use to help them understand the world. I think with time and age, distance from social media becomes easier as real life takes over - relationships, jobs, responsibility but Sophie is not there yet and effectively, without a job, has all the time on the world to spend on her phone.
I actually really liked the presence of the crack in the sky and it's ever presence in the book, always in the background. In a way I wondered if it was a stand in for something like the pandemic, and if not, definitely inspired by it - and I think it was a brilliant way to show that when unexplainable, scary things happen, life still more or less goes on as normal. Worldwide pandemic? Life stopped for a while but a majority of everyday normal things happened and now the world is more or less back to the way it was. Ukrainian War? Everyone is still doing their day-to-day activities albeit with a heavier cost of living situation but parties, romance, school and life is still happening every day.
I think this book is clever, and while I would have liked maybe a couple less conversations about capitalism (listen you talk about capitalism, you'll get compared to Sally Rooney and that's that), I think the author understand the mind of a twenty-something very well and all the fears and insecurities people can have when they're young and life still feels very unknown and scary.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Abortion
cindeeduong's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Vomit
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence
Minor: Eating disorder
whatkathrynreads_'s review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexual assault