Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Demain, et demain, et demain by Gabrielle Zevin

34 reviews

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.75

The faux biography Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin astounds at every possible juncture. Centring a pair of marginalized video game developers and their rise to fame, her book delves deep into the psyche of both major characters. She plots their success at forming their game company Unfair Games, their fights (creative and personal), the consequences of their success, their separation and their reunion. Every character leaps off the page and demands to be a player, not an NPC, and the characters' pasts heavily influence their development and their actions. I have never read a book so enthralling, so personal, or so realistic. I eagerly await more from Zevin and her incredible mind!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

Sadie's grandparents are Holocaust survivors, and Sadie's pre-Unfair game is about Nazi collaborators.

birdyreader's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

olivia119's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Great writing, super nerdy 3 👾 TLDR woman does all the work and gets 0 credit… typical 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

squidknees's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

Like The Fault in our Stars like A Little Life like Normal People Sally Rooney

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

ashybear02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

myk_yeah's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

"Are the flaws of the main characters a main focus of the book?" Yes. That's like the whole book.
I understand the hype, in a way I loved this book. But I'm also really conflicted. 
First off, you need so many trigger warnings for this book my gosh. None of the coverage of the book prepared me for that. 
I am not disabled, so I can't speak to how realistic the disability representation was, but what I didn't like was how steeped in pitty it all was. The framing the book took was to see Sam's disability through the lens of pity, offered by his rich, able-bodied peers. There's a moment where Sam is described as being confident and in his zone, and the narration says that his limp was diminished, or something like that. I wish the book would have accepted Sam for how he was, instead of seeing his disability as something that made him infantilized in a way Marx and Sadie never were. 

The major abusive romantic relationship in the book was disappointing to read as a survivor. More on that the spoiler section. There's also a SA scene that is not framed as SA. (Probably because it was a woman sexually touching a man who didn't want to be touched) Made my stomach turn. 

Oh and the very casual and consistent zionism. Thumbs down there.

I did love having a story about a platonic relationship. It makes you realize how rare that is to see in media and fiction. These people are messy, and bad to each other, and I liked it. I thought it was realistic. I like how it showed the impacts of trauma on how we act towards one another. And how you can get a story wrapped up in your head about what's going on when you don't communicate. I love how it showed how far we'll go for the ones we love and how beautiful it is to create together. 
The Pioneer chapter was outstanding, just magic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying

The final scene with Dov made me want to be sick. The way he was still in the story and able to excuse his behavior by saying "oh I used to be so shitty didn't I" when we have clues that he's the same as he was before. I needed a little more from the book to frame him as wrong.

I do think the drama of the plot was heavy-handed personally. I think the book was dark and it didn't always serve the story. Sometimes it felt like a distraction from the story. This book really has the kitchen sink of traumatic experiences in it and I think we could have done with one less. I think the book would have been even better if it was pared down a bit, a little simpler. And I know I personally would have enjoyed it better if it was lighter in tone overall, I don't want to suffer too much when I read. It did move me, I felt a lot the whole way through and I loved that.

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book.  It was a fascinating blend of character and plot.  I'm not a gamer, but I found the creation of the games so interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, and Torture

Minor: Cancer and Abortion

holyhead_harpie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

If you play video-games, this book is for you. Interesting behind the game development process. Shocking twist in the last third of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism