Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Stranger Than Fanfiction by Chris Colfer

11 reviews

jessicohen15's review against another edition

adventurous reflective fast-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

3.25

I could listen to Kurt from Glee read any book aloud to me, audiobook 5/5. Content was so PC and YA sometimes it felt like he was doing too much but given the target audience I get it. Very feel good meets coming of age:)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Islamophobia

cosmicwillow's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

1.5

i have never read a book with such a ridiculous amount of italics in it. like it was actually making me frustrated because it was so nonsensical.

here’s the thing about this: i get that it’s supposed to be a heartfelt comedy coming of age story but my god the tone was terrible. the level of irony through this was horrendous and it read like a progressive 15 year old on wattpad with a semi dark sense of humour wrote it.

there were some genuinely touching moments in this book which is why i didn’t flat out give it 1 star or less, but it didn’t balance well with the rest of the book, nor the weird, ironic and cynical writing style.

in short, this was insufferable at best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Drug use, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

besotted's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Drug use, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, and Stalking

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Sexual content, Medical content, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

martyna_m's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Terminal illness and Transphobia

Minor: Homophobia

jenny_librarian's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted reflective fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

Like the title suggests, this reads like fanfiction. And not good fanfiction either. It reads like the self-insert fics I wrote about my favourite singer when I was 17 years old. Which is surprising, considering Chris Colfer does this for a living. I was just killing time writing improbable romantic fantasies without any kind of beta review or editing. And yet, down to the quality of writing, it very much feels like someone found my fanfiction.net account.

It’s not all bad, mind you. It’s compelling and short enough that I powered through it easily. But it’s not good either. It kinda feels like an after school special with the dumbed-down definition of trans, the disabled brother who could be a cardboard cutout for all the time they spend talking about him like he’s furniture, and the author hitting you over the head with life lessons.

I liked some of the humour (Lewis and Clark vs Lois and Clark; Joey’s mind-movie of God, Moses and Jesus trying to tell Christians they actually don’t mind gay folks; the William Shatner Online Institute), but other jokes fell incredibly flat, if not downright offensive (“I always wanted a gay best friend” 🤢).

I wanted to read the Land of Stories, since it’s so popular, but if this book is a faithful representation of Chris Colfer’s writing, I think I’ll pass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Outing, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Racism, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse and Homophobia

catherine325's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Homophobia

poetsaurora's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, and Alcohol

mckinnley16's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted slow-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

3.5

If you are a fan of road trip stories and/or fandom culture you will love this book. It didn’t really hit my sweet spot of books I personally enjoy but that doesn’t mean someone else won’t love it. The characters are lovable and the places they visit are a ton of fun!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer

gabe7372's review

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Drug use, and Terminal illness

teammercury9546's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• 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? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Cancer and Homophobia