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potterpav's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
it’s a shame bc the woman with the sturgeon farm (Bea) was my fav chapter, but she appears briefly for 20 pages and is never seen again - and i realise i liked this the most bc it was something different to the rest of the book. it’s so focused around men that i got a glimpse of a woman and fell to my knees with joy, only for her to leave as quickly as she arrived. fatima was also so enclosed in a man’s world, and the women in seamus’s poetry class were unkind, purposefully-ignorant. i feel like that’s what most of the book can be drilled down to: none of the conversations match up. the characters just say a sentence that has a perfectly normal response (“how are you feeling?” “i’m okay, how are you?”) but instead they just talk to each other in mismatched sentences. it’s probably supposed to show how self-centred they all are, but after 300 pages it just gets annoying.
if you like passive yet irritating characters who come from wealth, are all basically the same (to the point where names mean nothing), are all in one big casual friends w benefits relationship, and books where there’s many, MANY characters .. this is for you. writing was beautiful if not a bit too poetic sometimes, i felt the point got lost occasionally, but yeah. some bits really were stunning, but overall it was just a bit .. flat. i suppose.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, and Abortion
kittencardigan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual violence
etinney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Classism
Moderate: Sexism and Sexual assault
Minor: Racism
mr_cain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol
aileron's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Abortion, and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
kitaface's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Abortion, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death and Kidnapping
ani_raven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Death of parent
emma_ekb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
brandon taylor has such a way with words. the way he captures emotion and friendship and love and lust and anguish and grief, and the way all of those feelings interact, is tangible. what’s interesting about this book is i didn’t necessarily LIKE the characters, but they felt real to me, and i couldn’t help but empathize with their struggles. even characters i thought i didn’t like at all at first, like Timo, i eventually came around to seeing them as these super three dimensional beings - like real people! not sure this is making sense but it’s what i feel. my favorite characters were definitely fyodor, timo and fatima… though i liked seamus’ arc as well.
as someone who grew up in iowa city, i also LOVED all the iowa city references. the bread garden, the ped mall, the quad, the hawkeyes banners…. definitely made my little heart happy
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, and Abortion
jcxjab's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Sexual harassment
bowtiesandbookmarks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Physical abuse