Reviews with content warning for Outing - All This Could Be Different

I all-caps HATED Sneha until about halfway through. I almost DNFed this in multiple occasions. She’s fatphobic, hates enbies (my spouse is nonbinary so this was particularly painful for me to read), has a weird white girl fetish, and wants to degrade, humiliate, and inflict pain upon sexual partners (not a kink that is palatable for me). So go into this book knowing that’s how she starts, but she ends up less of a shithead with age (don’t we all?)

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

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lorenag5's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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ka_cam's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-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

A solid queer immigrant self destructive sadgirl tale of your 20s and the turbulence of growing into yourself and into community. Sneha wasn’t always very likable but was always understandable, which I appreciate! Sometimes the writing felt a little stilted or not quite finished off at the end, all in all a good read!

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rachaelwho's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

Pacing was off for me. It took me a long time to get invested, and even once I had, the first act felt so long that I was surprised to find more acts beyond it. But the author had a lot to say. It's not 5 stars bc it's perfect, but because there's nothing worth faulting it for, if that makes sense. A very caring, thoughtful book. Excellent voice acting from the narrator.

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danidamico's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

"The anger did not arise from what he was describing; it rose from an expectation for a much better life than the one he owned".

"I stared off into the low dark, thinking about how to shape a life's great turbulence into a story".

"How will we learn about the world if not from each other?".

"My family is a geode of silences. You would need a hammer to smash it open".

"Just as romantic love faded or fractured, so too could friendship end. But nobody consoles you after a rupture with a beloved friend. There are few movies ideal for watching while your tears salt pints of ice cream, no articles in women's magazines that you can skim at the hairdresser's. You have only the ache. No script to accompany it. No ritual to give it shape".

"How was anyone expected to dream loftily about the future when the present ground them down to powder and nothingness?".

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