Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Switch by Beth O'Leary

47 reviews

cassienolan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

monicafaith4's review

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Beth O’Leary knows how to write female characters! In other hands I probably would have hated Leena because it’s so easy to take motivated woman characters and make them neurotic and cold. Instead, O’Leary writes characters who are relatable and multidimensional. And Grandma? A TREASURE. What a lovely read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit

danil_knits's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

ruthhelizabeth's review

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Infidelity and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol

There is a character who is explicitly xenophobic and this is never really tackled- it is presented like a quirk of their character rather than ever been explicitly challenged.

ajourneythroughpages's review

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I was quite disappointed by this book, as I loved The Flatshare. The whole premise was unbelievable from the go - two months paid leave for one panic attack? Unlikely. The story was too slow, no actual plot, a lot of significant things for the characters happened off page, there were no real stakes and every little thing got resolved far too easily. I didn't feel like I really knew or connected with the characters. That being said, it was an easy read for a few days, with some enjoyable story points. Overall I do feel that this was a bit of a hit-and-miss. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Death, Deadnaming, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Terminal illness

c_totume's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Grief

theonlybaillie's review against another edition

emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

rchaps's review against another edition

5.0

A book about family and found family, finding love and healing from grief.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, and Terminal illness

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Full review to come.

I had decidedly mixed feelings about The Switch.

The first third of the book was great - it was well-written, the pace was good, and it was funny and heartwarming. It was pretty predictable and cliched, but at that point, I was enjoying it so much that I didn't really care. I thought that the exploration of grief as a theme was well done, especially in how it affects the family members of those who have died - it was very sensitively written. There were also brief references to domestic violence that were also handled well, I thought.

Unfortunately, all of the above was nearly ruined for me by the author using a trope that I really dislike:

Spoiler

the first boyfriend of one of the narrators (Leena) turning out to be a massive two-timing douchebag, so the new love interest can then conveniently swoop in and save the day

. Ugh.  And the fact that

Spoiler

the first boyfriend's redeeming qualities were basically swept aside

. I also disliked that

Spoiler

the new love interest was basically described as being built like a football/rugby/soccer player, and didn't seem to have much personality beyond that. I know that sounds mean, and I'm sorry - but that's how I felt

.

I also disliked how the author had the characters do things that I found ethically questionable, purely to advance the plot.

To sum up: The Switch is a novel that started off well but turned off this reader by using a nasty trope that authors should really stop using.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Grief, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Racism, and Xenophobia

krisrow's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Cancer

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse