Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler

52 reviews

allisonrandom's review

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2.25

This book was a slog for me. It reads like a thinly veiled memoir but lacks the introspection I wanted and expected from a book like this. Despite dealing with heavy topics, it felt very surface level and unwilling to dig deep. It's sort of like a memoir smushed together with a romance novel, where everyone lives happily ever after despite the bulk of the novel spending its time on the protagonist getting treated like garbage and somehow not realizing it. I was begging for Rory and Adelaide to break up the whole time. There was nothing compelling about them as a couple. I was told a lot by the book that they were soulmates but never shown anything to prove that. All of the characters were incredibly flat and I had a hard time keeping track of the side characters because they all blended together. The characters were both underdeveloped and filled with unnecessary detail. The book begins with a disclaimer that it's based on the author's life experiences and that is evident from some of the strange choices of what's included here. Details and anecdotes that would make sense in a memoir are totally unnecessary in a novel, and there are so many pieces here that really don't fit together narratively. The happily ever after felt out of place and un-earned because the resolution was so glossed over.
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syd14m's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-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

3.0

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personoftheyear2006's review

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Uncomfortable in a way that was not positive or healthy for me. I am so disappointed in it, I had high high hopes. Happy others enjoy it but it is not for me; I’ll just talk to my therapist instead - thank you. 
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chickaboogawah's review

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challenging dark hopeful reflective fast-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 don't know if I've ever disliked a character more than I disliked Rory Hughes. I shook my head so many times at his horrible behavior.
And I hated how Adelaide took so long to realize what a jerk he was.
That was annoying. Her friends were both super supportive of her, and also super annoying in how they didn't tell her to dump him. Maybe this is what the dating world is like for 20-somethings in London, but it just makes me very glad that I'm not part of it.
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ermontgom's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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carmenvillaman's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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debhawkins's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.5

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theinstabookworm's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I DNFed the physical copy of this book I got last year knowing I wanted to try listening to it on audio instead. And yesterday was the day! I listened to this in one day, which is doable because it's only 290 pages, making it very bingeable. The audiobook is an excellent choice if you're like me and find it hard to digest what you're reading with this book. I loved all the bookish references in this and although I haven't experienced toxic romantic relationships, I have experienced toxic friendships, and to an extent I could relate to Adelaide's feelings towards Rory and that she kept going back to him even though he kept hurting her. Having said that, though, Rory is horrible and toxic and I wanted to shake some sense into Adelaide numerous times. I also related to Adelaide's mental health struggles. This book is written in third person, which I didn't love. Also, I'm glad I listened to this because I still had a physical copy and noticed there are no quotation marks in this book, which would've driven me crazy! 🙃 This is a very strong debut that I would definitely recommend, but do be mindful of content warnings as there are heavy topics discussed in this book. 

Favourite quote: "All she knows is that she's alive and loved and breathing. She's here. And everything is going to be okay."
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ashleyrosehaden's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I legit got teary-eyed during the first six pages of this book. The way she describes how these feelings of ending her life came about was so relatable. I've gone through depressive episodes myself and whenever I would feel like I was reaching my breaking point it felt EXACTLY how Adelaide described it. It could just be from any ordinary mundane thing, but what makes those mundane mishaps so effective is that those small mishaps are already toppling onto the preexisting trauma that a person already has. And small things add up to the point where eventually that person can't take it anymore (and you know the rest). Ughhhh! I've never read a book that describes my "depressive episodes" so accurately. I felt so seen and we were only six pages in.🤧

I just resonated with Adelaide so much in this book. Like you don't even know. Sometimes she would say things that I've literally said in real, like, "I believe in doing something you like, she said. But not necessarily something you love." (65)

This book is just a book about Adelaide's life, what caused her downward spiral, and the factors that contributed to her mental illnesses so don't get into this thinking you're going to let a major plot because you're not. The main focus of this novel, however, is the tumultuous relationship she has with a man named Rory Hughes and his contribution to ruining her life (I am a Rory hater😂).

Now normally, in a regular book, I'd loathe a character that keeps going back to someone that mistreats them, however, with Addie, I couldn't help, but relate to her. At times I wanted to scream at her to LET. HIM. GO. But sadly, I do understand what it's like to have someone who treats you well enough so you love and adore them and put up with their major flaws in hopes that things will get better. People like Adelaide with a pre-existing unpleasant relationship with love (and self-love) aren't going to be so quick to leave someone like Rory because, in comparison to all her terrible romance partners, he's the "shining star". 😒

I like how the author painted Rory's personality as unsettling and offputting, but not necessarily abusive because if he were abusive Adelaide would've left right away, but it's people like Rory that women also have to be wary of.  It's the people like Rory that break you down gradually by doing minuscule harmful things, but not harmful enough that it constitutes leaving them. He was the embodiment of ambivalence.  He would be sweet and kind to her, but also would treat her like an afterthought. 
He wouldn't text her for days and days on end, wouldn't commit to her after stringing her along for 10 months, and then he lackadaisically called her his girlfriend. Like she literally annotated a whole book for him, wrote him a heartfelt letter declaring her love for him, worked so hard to bake him his favorite cake, and got him very very thoughtful gifts based on the things he likes. Ughhh! HE DID NOT DESERVE HER! He did not care about her enough and it showed. She was always an afterthought to him and it broke my heart to see Adelaide try sooooo (desperately) hard to make Rory love her.😢

That scene where Adelaide breaks down and cries after her friend got flowers from her new boyfriend or when she sobbed after one of her other friends announced her engagement stating how she felt like she would never have a happily ever after with someone like that where the love was effortless. I FELT that. And it started me seeing Addie blame herself for this. 

Rory was a parasite through and through. He made her doubt herself. Doubt her worth. Doubt her purpose. Doubt her desirability all because she was trying to do the impossible and convince a man to love her when he refused to.
 

This book mainly encapsulates the struggle it takes to leave someone when your heart still lies with them. And just the consequences of a relationship that gradually drains your spirits and the effects it has on you. It's about realizing that you deserve better than the minimal effort that you receive. I read a review and I feel like they described this book nicely so I'm going to quote them, " This is for anyone that’s ever loved someone that was incapable of loving them - or loving them in the way they deserved - and whose come out the other side (or is still finding the courage to) for those especially but for everyone - this book is a balm to the soul and will simultaneously leave you feeling both emotional drained and buoyed at the same time in the best possible way."

 This book hit home for me and I do acknowledge that the story may not hit for everyone, but if any of these themes relate to you in any way then I for sure recommend giving this book a try!

Quotes that I liked:
  • "Because if we knew, if we honestly knew that the price of love was grief, we'd never do it. We'd never succumb in the first place. And once we do—once we fall in love, against our better judgment, with something or someone—we never want to let go. No matter how many dinners they miss, how many texts they ignore. None of it matters. And none of it mattered. Adelaide was never going to let go." - (151)🤧💔
  • "In the face of grief 'remember that you're still allowed to feel joy'...." - (*forgot the page, sorry)
  • "And she was truly excited. To have a baby. How mad." -(195)🤣
  • "Adelaide tried to do with this pain what she'd done with the rest of it—bury it, deep in her bones. Undetectable, she thought. But it didn't work this time. There was too much hurt down there. Too much heartache and not enough room." - (241)😢
  • "....but Adelaide still felt like a wounded bird told to fly. She wasn't quite sure how." - (254)
  • "She imagined herself as a million broken pieces scattered across the yellow duvet—divided and spread out, struggling to come together, to feel whole. How unfair she thought. That she'd helped Rory piece himself back together, and he'd never even know she fell apart." - (255)😭
  • "How frustrating, Adelaide thought. So many things that never should have belonged to him had become his: The scent of laundry detergent. The perfume she'd worn on their first date. The flavor of Colgate toothpaste she'd once tasted on his tongue. They were his now, wholly. And she wanted them back." - (269) (I just found this quote relatable because this is EXACTLY how I felt after my breakup; everything reminds you of them🤧💔)


Spice Rating: 🌶️/5
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