Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

15 reviews

blackveilbeccy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

2.75

This was attempting to be really clever in using and subverting tropes, but it fell flat for me. This whole book felt disjointed due to the rapid tone and style changes. There were also so many characters and subplots that it felt chaotic. I found the FMC horrendously self-pitying and I know it’s silly, but I struggled with the author’s choice of first name for her. Almost none of the characters were likeable as they all came away looking self-absorbed. There were times I felt like DNF but the premise was interesting enough that I pushed through. The texting and epistolary elements were the most enjoyable and felt the most real. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

kateywaldhart's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicide attempt

cibani's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Dementia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

lizziaha's review against another edition

funny

3.5

Love the concept, hated the characters. I was also frustrated by the somewhat (pointlessly) non-linear storytelling, which made the pacing of the book a bit funky. I’m also not usually a miscommunication hater, but it really didn’t work for me in this book. It felt very lopsided, which just made me extra annoyed at one of the characters. Despite that, this book was funny, I was rooting for the romance, and the side plots with Sawenee’s friends and family were interesting and at times even more compelling than the main romance. At times it felt like Whelan was writing different accents/scenes into the book just to have a fun time/a challenge in narration, which made the audiobook really fun to listen to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Infidelity

amgraves's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Dementia

Minor: Eating disorder

texashippie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Grief

alykate's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Dementia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Abandonment

rai_ishardtoplease's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

3.5

“Somehow, far beyond her ability to comprehend exactly how, something seemingly so much less became so much more.”
- This book, in a nutshell.

As a romantically cynical woman with very visible scarring, estranged parents, and a complicated relationship with her emotionally unavailable father… this felt like a personal attack.

For most people, though, I’d say that TYFL has the same energy as the cosmic love child of a poet’s overwritten diary and a self-deprecating inside joke.

So, like, Emily Henry meets V.E. Schwab. Or maybe Nicholas Sparks meets Taylor Jenkins Reid. Hell, throw them all into a blender and call it a literary smoothie.

And I’ll be damned if this doesn’t get optioned and become a box office hit. This is precisely the kind of story that Hollywood goes feral over. The Romcom Movie Renaissance would finally hit its stride.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness and Death

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

sarahsthoughtsonbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.75

Fine line between contemporary fiction and romance. Not well balanced between the two. It doesn't lean one way or the other, but neither is really developed enough. Great idea, but could be better executed? Not that it was flawed, but I wanted more. It just felt a bit rush. I think that's what it is, that there seemed to be a medium pace that was going well, and then part was just rushed. Which caused it to feel lacking. 

Also, both protagonists seem to hate romance genre. Makes me wonder if Julia has a second, lesser known pseudonym that she recorded some romance under (like her Sophie Eastlake stuff send to be mainly two authors)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia

Moderate: Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming and Eating disorder

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

4.0

I am *very* picky about audiobooks, to the point that I know it’s unfair and illogical and so I tend to not listen to them at all, but I like Julia Whalen. A lot. I find her very talented and enjoyable to listen to. Now, bring me a book of written by an audiobook narrator ABOUT audiobook narrators and it seems only fair (and totally obvious) that it need to be consumed via audio. Right? So, of course, I did. Now please refer back to my comment about being unfairly judgmental and illogically picky about audiobooks and take my review with a grain of salt. I believe this book is good and if I had read it on page I would’ve loved it more, possibly. The characters are unique and flawed and diverse, the banter is funny and witty and cute. BUT…. But… you can tell an audiobook narrator wrote this. There are characters who exist solely for the purpose of the narrator [author] showing off her skills in accents. Which, for the record, is good (with the exception of the Bostonian ex boyfriend with the most horrendous Boston accent I’ve ever hear and take person offense to), but there’s no real reason for them. I also have mixed feelings about a white author writing about the plight of a black woman in Hollywood… but it does seem (to me, another white woman, to note) to be handled somewhat carefully. Just perhaps not her story to tell, again, as a white woman who was a former actress. I guess all this to say some of this felt inauthentic but it’s hard to parse that from what I HEARD and wish I would’ve just read the book 🤷🏻‍♀️ don’t come for me. I still gave it 4 stars!! There’s quality story here and a lot of fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail