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crispylexi'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Animal death and Vomit
anadorablegal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Alcohol
zreadz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
What started out as a book that seemed like it would investigate the inner turmoil of toxic relationships and the misogynistic views imposed on women from a young age, turned into an unhinged societal stream of consciousness read.
While some may find a certain allure in watching a train wreck, there was no redeeming moment for the protagonist, and nothing left me with even a hint of hope for womanhood. The narrative felt like a continuous stream of trauma, with some scenes so graphic in their depiction of sexual violence that it seemed like a fantasy for the particularly depraved.
I did relate to the protagonist’s inner conflicts surrounding men, body image, and navigating one’s 20s as a woman trying to reconcile societal expectations with a desire to find one’s true self. However, the end of the book left me feeling confused, irritated, and afraid. Is this the journey women must go through to find themselves? Are we defined by our relationships, our willingness to be alone, are we destined to fail in life if we have trauma? I struggled to understand the message the book was trying to convey and almost wanted to forget about it altogether. It almost reminded me of the premise of Bell Hooks’ Communion and new wave feminism.
It felt like reading a bad omen. This book is like Normal People, but with both protagonists being insufferable, having extreme unresolved trauma, and breaking up in a horrifically violent and crude manner. This was not the read I was expecting or wanting. Maybe that’s the message?
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
sissizc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Rape, and Sexual assault
karenteach2626's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Rape, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
omgyaynina's review against another edition
- 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
I often saw a younger version of myself in the FMC, which was validating and disturbing simultaneously. If I hadn’t borrowed this from the library I would have been annotating it furiously, and I might buy a copy to do just that. It made me think a lot, and feel a lot, which is what I want from a book.
Definitely check the content warnings.
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Self harm
lizetteratura's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexual assault
bloupibloupreads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Rape
Moderate: Self harm and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death
wine_and_dine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I despise Cieran even more for his ability to make her feel worthless simply by ignoring her, and that he blatantly thought he was better than everyone else 'because he's an artist'.
But it was written remarkably well and her though development for justifying abuse was so clear.
The manic thoughts made her such an unreliable narrator I constantly questioned if the severity of the abuse was magnified by her incessant need to be loved (and magnified by the panic of not being loved after an argument).
The ending was very abrupt and her character arc felt very incomplete and nothing was learned from the story; it felt like I was reading her diaries and the retrospective Athens chapters were going to show growth from the abuse and from her own (obvious) personality disorder.
VERY strong themes of: longing, obsession, lust, desire, pain, self-harm, love, friendship, admiration, desperation
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
woodiefrog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Is it “raw and honest”? We who did not live the lives nor knew what went behind the keyboard tapping or even diary keeping, who are we to judge? Personally I am perpetually fascinated by my drive to understand the seeking of degradation and erotified romance/sexually suffering, the history both personal and social that caused it. At once I am also slightly unmoored by the seemingly rise of popularity (or perhaps, undiminished? There’s Girl, Interrupted long ago after all) of this type of fiction, straddling along the literary and genre in terms of audience, with main characters in their early 20s always white and women and in desperate need of therapy but instead the fiction leads us to see them “transform” through romance, upswing or down to hell.
I think someone on Goodreads mentioned pejoratively Fleabag in starting this “trend.” While I understand the sentiment, I think Fleabag is an examination of this genre, this “aesthetic.” Fleabag does no more seek her suffering than hoping against memories and her past (which is still very much alive in her necessities to be around her family). A lot of central conflicts within the characters arises and revolves around Fleabag’s relationship with women, rather than with men. But as this book demonstrates, “at a glance” is all it matters to a great deal of audience at times. Not all experience warrants any meaningful explanation or links to the larger experience beyond one’s own victimhood.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming and Eating disorder