madeleinebay's review
4.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
Moderate: Drug use, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Drug abuse
Minor: Police brutality
alicelalicon's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, and Self harm
Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Alcohol, Medical content, Racism, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Sexual content, Ableism, and Cursing
Minor: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts
siriface's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Medical content, Death of parent, and Self harm
clemencepct's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
2.25
Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Animal death
bookmark3brodi's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Alcohol, Animal death, Car accident, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Addiction, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, and Death of parent
stwriter92's review against another edition
- 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
“A book must start somewhere. One brave letter must volunteer to go first, laying itself on the line in an act of faith, from which a word takes heart and follows, drawing a sentence into its wake. From there, a paragraph amasses, and soon a page, and the book is on its way, finding a voice, calling itself into being.”
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Grief, Drug use, Mental illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Blood, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Vomit
emmagreenwood's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Addiction, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Bullying, Car accident, Drug use, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
amberinbookland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Animal death, Drug use, Medical content, Drug abuse, Self harm, Body shaming, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence
storykath's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
This book tackles a lot; there's commentary on mental health, addiction, the nature of stories, politics, and society as a whole. It was an effort to continually wade through them all, but the switches in POVs were effective for keeping things balanced.
There's also a lot of nuance and ambiguity in this book, and I think it was handled incredibly well. We hear the subjective thoughts and feelings of characters with mental illnesses and addictions, and we can see how easy it is for them to fall into deluded or dangerous ways of thinking. At times I was totally immersed in each character's perspective, and at other times I could approach it more objectively and see the truths that they were missing. To handle this type of writing so sensitively and faithfully is really a feat.
I don't think I would read this book again, as a lot of the philosophy was too nebulous for my tastes, but I would recommend it to anyone looking for an absurd yet bracingly real story of struggle and survival.
Definitely check content warnings before diving in.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Blood, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Medical content, and Bullying
Minor: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Violence
karenmariscalo's review
- 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
Graphic: Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Medical content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Car accident, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Alcohol, Fatphobia, and Bullying