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brotestantethic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
What I was surprised by here was what is not present. I truly expected Sneha to have a gender revelation. During sex scenes,
Furthermore, I found Project Pink House/Rion a bit hard to swallow. I believe Matthews was going for a microcosm of anticapitalist, communal living. It is a utopia of “doing what you can.” However, it ends up being and reading like college houses. A bit young, a bit unrealistic, a lot of conflict. I didn’t really like how this fit into the narrative and maybe could be chalked up to the author trying to cover a bit too much ground.
Graphic: Eating disorder and Mental illness
Moderate: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
hello_lovely13's review
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Police brutality
shaun_dh'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
3.0
This is the perfect example of why I don’t read books with characters in their 20s—I have zero interest in revisiting that time in my life
This was just fine for me. The cultural nuances are also not relatable to me (Sneha is Indian, I am not) to me so maybe that would have helped my have more empathy for Sneha in the beginning
Tig, Sneha’s bestie, is the best part of this book. I Stan a fellow biracial Black queen. I want a book all about Tig, please and thank you
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Transphobia, Police brutality, Outing, Alcohol, and Deportation
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Cursing, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Classism
archiveofrasa's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse and Drug abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Police brutality
hhbaker's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Deportation
sammyofthevalley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Classism, and Deportation
academic_mama's review against another edition
2.0
Totally turned off by the explicit language/sex stuff. Also fat-shame. Just not for me. Protagonist is a bit too twee.
Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexual violence
meemawreads's review
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Fatphobia and Transphobia
calicos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Racism
Moderate: Fatphobia and Transphobia
thisbookrox's review
4.0
highlights - Tig is an amazing friend, the found family storyline really stuck with me, and the story overall was a reminder of how close all of us in the working class are to slipping into poverty.
i am taking a star away because of the fatphobia and transphobia. the MC did improve over the course of the story, but there were very blunt comments and rants about these things.
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault