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gotnoculture's review against another edition
A blurb on the dust jacket said the children in this book were “eerily mature” but frankly I just felt they were poorly written. The way the young people talk is overdone and unbelievable; I think the author was attempting to mimic teenhood by just making the characters rude? They throw around the R slur so much, which made this book feel stuck in 2008 despite its supposedly modern setting. And it was just an unnecessarily offensive and upsetting inclusion.
But the fatal flaw, which made me unable to complete the book, was the author’s intense, transparent fatphobia. Throughout the novel fatness is directly associated with idiocy and cruelty. The bumbling useless parents are fat, the cruel soldier-types are fat. But when
This also lends to the author’s struggles with producing any complex metaphors or meanings. We get gluttonous = fat, youthfulness = good and capable, ignorant = ugly, and many other superficial associations. This paired with trite religious imagery had me frequently rolling my eyes.
I have the review at two stars to give the benefit of the doubt that it had an interesting ending, and that maybe something here was lost on me.
Graphic: Fatphobia and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, and Death of parent
tifftastic87's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The characters are incredibly two dimensional. We don't know enough about them to really care as the narrator is telling us back conversations and she doesn't really like anyone other than her younger brother, who is maybe around 10? The only real character we get info about is the younger brother, Jack, who gets a bible as a gift and sees it as a metaphor for everything happening.
The themes in here are kind of unclear, or heavy handed. It was clear there is a climate crisis and we can blame the older generation and the wealthy for that. However, the conversation never really happens anymore than at a childish level of "you did this!" There was a current of biblical stuff which was... unusual?
Lastly, there was only one character who was described as having "olive toned skin" and he was the character that took the most abuse from the plot. There was a lot of fat-phobia as well that was just unnecessary.
Content Warning that isn't an option in the drop down
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Racism
mcdal's review against another edition
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
dawntin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy
Minor: Fatphobia and Homophobia
joe_dmh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Torture, and Death of parent
mollmccaff's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Torture, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Blood, and Vomit
avery219's review against another edition
Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, and Sexual harassment
imds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
perditorian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Torture
Minor: Eating disorder