Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - All This Could Be Different

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

63 reviews

norawise's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad

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

5.0

I couldn't put this down! Gorgeous writing on the queer immigrant experience in America. I love how the author writes dialogue and all the beautiful passages on deep, meaningful friendship. I've fallen deeply in love with every character and their relationships to each other.

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ryannreidreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-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

5.0

I struggled with this book until halfway through. It’s a story of community and identity and is just COMPLICATED. 5 stars because it hit me at just the right time.

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hello_lovely13's review

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emotional reflective 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

2.5

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lissareadsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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kyrajg's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

4.0

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archiveofrasa's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.75

started this because I loved the voice, stayed because of the outstanding character work. Sneha is such an interesting and well realised character, as are all the other characters, Tig, Thom, Marina, Amit. even the more minor characters add a lot of realistic depth to what the book is trying to explore.

I didn't realise until I was days deep into my annotating reread that the story is exactly what Sneha says it is in the beginning:

This is not a story about work or precarity. I am trying, late in the evening, to say something about love, which for many of us is not separable from the other shit.
—A1

when you read said story and the words and symbolism click into place, it's deeply satisfying. the book isn't trying to explore how Sneha directly navigates the capitalistic society of 2013-beyond, that aspect simply falls back as a foundation, as the unmovable constant in her life that continues to push her down. ATCBD is about Sneha as a person, her issues with intimacy, community, family, identity. the way Mathews going about exploring these facets intertwined with work life, as adult life must endure these days, was super compelling and so new.

while Sneha was absolutely a pain in the ass, all we gathered from her before she hurts others makes me want to know how things end for her, what other choices she makes and why she makes them. I've stopped looking for likeable main characters and instead found myself gravitating towards those who do fuck up, have problematic issues as to why they fuck up, those who have to learn things the hard way, especially if those people are queer people of colour. these stories awaken a sense of realism I definitely needed and even if it has only subtly made its way into the wrinkles of my brain, it'll stay with me for a long time.

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team_worm's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

My best novel of the year so far. I read it in one breath, stoping only to savor the sentences which cut deepest. The prose sparkles like broken glass! All feelings felt by the characters in this one - joy, sadness, outrage, triumph, heartbreak, anxiety, panic, loneliness, hope — you’ll feel them too. You will also feel exasperation as they are, some of them at least, very flawed. Some of Sneha’s and Thom’s opinions are not my own, but I thought they evolved throughout the book in satisfying ways. If anything, more than people usually do irl. I cared so much about the characters. Would particularly recommend for fans of the great believers and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. A true millennial novel of queer friendship, trauma, and late capitalism.

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