Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

True Biz by Sara Nović

91 reviews

jennp28's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This book was a really fascinating and arresting look into deaf culture. The cast of characters and the varying POV really worked to show all the angles of the story and the interstitials of non-fiction deaf history, sign language etc really added to the book. I listened to the audiobook, perhaps ironically, but I really appreciated the inclusion of the sound of the signs being made. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Medical content, Car accident, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Violence

leaflit's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Ableism

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Drug use, Bullying, and Racism

lindsayhotrod's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

good_names_dont_exist's review

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, Dementia, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Drug use

Minor: Homophobia and Vomit

shirarweiss's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Medical content, Car accident, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Ableism, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

sorenzs's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I haven’t gotten so wonderfully immersed into the world of a book for a while until reading this. At its core, True Biz is about being human. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Car accident, Ableism, Alcohol, Medical content, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism

Minor: Vomit

signeskov's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

A super insightful and important coming-of-age novel that presents an intimate and diverse experience(s) of deafness within the walls of an imaginary school for the deaf in southern Ohio. For those of us who have only ever been part of the hearing world, the novel provides a multitude of nuances of what being deaf has meant in North America then, now - and how the community risks further erosion in the future due to new technologies and unequal power relations between the hearing and deaf worlds. A nice read for anyone craving a coming-of-age teenage story with a twist of anarchy and who wants to learn something new.

Also: make sure to read this in a print format! The book includes many wonderful illustrations of ASL that you can practice and learn from as you read. I imagine this works for a much better reading experience in a print than audio book format.

(NB: I chose this book originally as part of the 2023 StoryGraph genre challenge to read a novel with disability rep - though, as it is also apparent from the book, deafness may or may not be a disability depending on the deaf individual you ask and their own lived experience. For now, though, given the thorough injustices experienced by deaf children and adults alike in societies still structured around the presumption of hearing, I believe this novel still qualifies as a relevant selection for the challenge)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Car accident, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Hate crime, Medical trauma, and Racism

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry

martachbc's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Car accident, and Ableism

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

As a disabled person, one of my big endeavors for 2023 is to read more disability-centered books and True Biz came highly recommended. The first few chapters were hard to get into, but once I got sucked into the story, it felt impossible to put down. 

Charlie as a character was very interesting and her family life tells an important story of Deaf experiences in the United States today. Juxtaposing her with Austin allowed me, as the reader, to see the two sides to Deaf life and the challenges of each. 

I'm not sure where I thought the book would end, but it wasn't that in a very good way. The story ramped up in a believable way, making it a very good read. 

My first criticism lies in the way Austin's ex is written; she's such a flat character, seemingly only there to make Charlie seem cooler and better. My other criticism of this is its advertisement as LGBTQIA+; while the headmistress is a lesbian, the story is only about her a little bit, and the overarching story is about Charlie and Austin, a straight couple. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

lovealwaysadi's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

• 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? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Dementia, Ableism, Alcohol, Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content