Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

13 reviews

dirtyseagull's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

So here's the thing about this book, its a great follow up to the first in the "Series" as it were, because even though its a prequel its main focus for most the story is the world building and establishing what kind of New York these characters are living in and subsequently, dying in. 

Not really a spoiler, its in the title. 

But here are some very minor spoilers if you wanna keep reading. You are getting a lot of the same here as you did in the first novel, just longer. There's backstory, more world-building, and a shit ton of callbacks to the first novel (and little easter eggs) which give context for who these characters were that were either mentioned or featured in the first story. 

These mostly work in service of the novel but sometimes feel like they are just kinda cameos for the sake of cameos and they could have been cut down or cut out. The only other thing that really makes me think that this could have been better is that the story itself, while different and heart wrenching feels far less emotionally powerful to me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug use, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Child death, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

j_emerson18's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.75

Oh my sweet goodness. I can't stop crying. My heart is so full and so broken at the same time. The emotion that Adam Silvera can evoke is so incredible. I feel as if I lost the character myself and sit grieving with the others by the end. Can't express my love for this novel enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Panic attacks/disorders

branson_besotted's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Car accident, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Minor: Medical trauma, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

emburke's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Mass/school shootings, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Homophobia

erebus53's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

4.25

Adam Silvera's work is always an easy read for me. His niche is typically youth fiction telling the story of gay kids trying to find their way. He has a real fan following with his creativity and modern real-talk for teens. It's not going to be everyone's flavour, but it never feels forced. This is the second of his Die at the End books, and serves as a prequel for the first book. The story holds tension by being delivered in the first person in a chronological order, from different people's points of view. This is the second book I have read this week that introduces random characters with us not knowing at first that we are being woven into a tangled web of inter-related characters.

The tension in this book is interesting because, unlike the characters, we know that the DeathCast system (that warns people on their last day, that they are about to die), is real and works. Nobody can predict that there will be a hiccup on its first day of use and that some of the people who are going to die that day have not been told, and even that is only revealed to the populace half way through the day.

For those who have read the other book first, there are revelations that are very obvious (we know what the creative app programming endeavours of one character are likely to culminate in), and some things that are much less obvious, such as a character making a phonecall from a pay phone, which are going to be phased out and trashed shortly.

My absolute favourite thing about Silvera's imagined world is that he has replaced a leading popular fantasy franchise with something I can really totally get behind. The major popular magical fiction series in his world is called Scorpius Hawthorn; and it's a magical story with prophecies and wizards and things. There are major movie spinoffs and the child actors are treated wonderfully, getting to play and have fun around film-shooting in Brazil, while their special dietary needs and health are supported by caring handlers. The author of the original book series is Poppy Iglesias and she's a lovely caring person who is also a Queer Latina Trans-woman. I would love to live in this fantasy where the most popular magic franchise is also ethical.

This book is a serious tear jerker. It has homophobia in it. It has sex in it; there are condoms, explicit consent, and not a lot of other detail. It's there as a celebration of love rather than to be titillating. There is also domestic violence, and gun violence, grief about losing parents in the 9/11 destruction, and apocalypse cults, and scary dudes in skull masks. The intended audience is probably 14+ but mature readers younger or older than that will probably enjoy it. Some of the coincidences seem ridiculously contrived and unlikely, but that's just the style of story, and is similar to the other book as well. I was caught in frisson several times when reminded of things like 9/11 or when I realised that throw away details experienced by one character were more relevant to the story of another character.

Fans of the original book will likely enjoy this one as much.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Blood

teacherkmd's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

You will cry. Love how the author has interactions between characters in different points of views 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent and Car accident

lem0nbalm_'s review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Car accident

meeklovestoread's review

emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I loved They Both Die At The End. One of my top reads ever and was definitely one of the books that got thinking about getting back into reading. So when I found out there was gonna be a prequel I got excited. And while I didn't like this better than the "first" book I still liked it nonetheless. It was a good book and had many heartfelt moments full of friendship, love, and family. It was what I expected and I wasn't disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Cursing, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Violence

addiii__'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual content

candacealise's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Gun violence

Minor: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical trauma