looking4thedr'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
This book had me laughing, crying and feeling everything in between. It has such amazing, charming and funny humour coupled with just fantastic emotional depth. The characters are also phenomenal and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their progress and growth throughout the story.
Spoiler
I loved how the story makes fun of Wallace in the beginning, and continues to do so throughout the book. It humbles him very satisfactorily, to both us the readers as well as the other main characters.Wallace’s growing relationships with each of the other characters was comforting to watch as they grew into a family.
Also the entire second half of the story had balling my eyes out (in a good way), because of how the author wrote about grief and letting go and being thankful and about getting a certain amount of time with a person. It really struck an emotional cord with me. Moreover, the other reason for my tears was Wallace’s absolute tragic relationship with Hugo, because every time he was reminded they couldn’t touch I wanted to cry, because they loved each other so much and it was so unfair.
The ending was a bit of a shock, but I knew there would be a twist at the end. I could smell it. And what an absolutely marvellous twist it was. I couldn’t be happier. Although, I was still bittersweet (a theme I’m noticing) about Nelson’s end. I loved him so much, and his relationships with Hugo and Wallace, acting as the cool grandad / father figure. There’s more I probably want to say, but I’ll leave it here for now.
This book took me on a fantastic journey with characters that felt like real people, and was thoroughly easy to read (structurally, not emotionally, it’ll take a while to recover from this… in a good way), and everything that was introduced near the beginning of the story was resolved by its end. This is truly one of the most impactful books I’ve read in a while.
Graphic: Grief
Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Child death, Suicide attempt, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
leonormsousa'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
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, Terminal illness, Suicide, Child death, Grief, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Outing
marsonmars'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: Grief, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Suicide, Mental illness, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Car accident, Chronic illness, and Emotional abuse
amesreads'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
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Child death, and Death
joensign'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
2.5
Graphic: Grief, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Child death, Animal death, Death of parent, and Body horror
Minor: Mental illness
vaguely_pink'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
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Child death, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, Car accident, Confinement, Cancer, Cursing, Medical content, and Terminal illness
tnm94'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
3.25
The first half was not for me. Wallace is such a comically unlikable that I cared very little about him and his quest to become a better person. The hijinks and misunderstandings that make up the humor were too cartoonish for my tastes. I loved Hugo and the other characters and was intrigued by the mystery of Cameron so I pushed through (and uped my audiobook speed from 1.5x to 2x)
About halfway through, Wallace finally grew on me and I began to care about what happens to him. Here is where I feel that the author's theme and prose and character growth begin to shine. I went from not even wanting to finish the book to weeping through the last third of it.
While I very much enjoyed the ending, it didn't make up for the slough of the beginning. Still, I am glad to have read it and recommend it for stubborn readers who want their fantasy warm and cozy. You will want a cup of tea nearby as you read
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Child death, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Cancer
thesunreads'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
3.0
- “The Manager” is…. I really expected a cosmic being of world and reality changing power to have a cooler name. At first I thought the whole “Oh yeah we can’t mess up or the Manager will come” bit was funny and a cheeky play on typical ghost/afterlife/etc. tropes, but the fact that the Manager calls himself the Manager just felt too meta and jokey to me and not in line with his described character.
- The whole hook situation was…. Considering how lighthearted and funny the book begins with the starting situation between Mei and Wallace, the moment the hook is brought in, I could not stop thinking about the hooks from Dead by Daylight. The way they were described felt unnerving and seemed painful, and the fact that it wasn’t just a “character doesn’t know the proper terminology for something so keeps referring to it in a funny/clunky alternate way”-situation but that everyone called it a hook, and the line connected to it a cable was so janky and unfitting to the other themes of the book, everytime it came up I thought about what a stupid term that was. It would have been so easy to connect this to the tea house with any other String of Fate-esque symbology, yet, alas. We got a Hook and a Cable.
I disliked and found it absolutely baffling how the Manager had a totally random last minute (or rather second, that’s how quickly it happens) change of heart and just suddenly stopped caring about yet another set of vital rules to his whole thing on top of suddenly being kind for absolutely no reason at all when he had made a point to be uncaring and not understanding before? It just came out of nowhere, and ended up making the time constraint an entirely void and inconsequential plot device that served zero purpose except to speed-run the relationship between Wallace and Hugo when it just didn’t need to be that way. I don’t get it. The stakes were high for absolutely no reason, all of this could’ve been explored in a much more interesting way if the character of the Manager had been written consistently and logically. Instead, he ended up being an annoying outside plot driving device, and not even a very good one.
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Mental illness, and Murder
The animal death is not graphic in a violent way. There’s just a explicit (even if very kind and emotional) description of assisted pet death by a vet.auburnivy's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Amazing book with an amazing story I’m obsessed
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual harassment
ellieb09'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
Finishing this book was hard because I both wanted to know how it ended and loathed the idea of it being over. I appreciate the twists in the story and how earned they felt. They didn't exist for cleverness or because of lazy writing, they existed because the characters made decisions that warranted them.
The cast of characters was truly wonderful. Their antics and their support of each other are equally valuable. The questions they pose and the answes they offer are healing. And even the minor characters have a presence many main characters in other books never reach.
I will say that there are some hard storylines for those who have experienced different kinds of trauma. But as someone who's lost family and friends to similar circumstances, I value the care given to these stories. And, as someone who lost their mom just over 6 months ago, I will say that this isn't something that's too heavy. At least it wasn't for me.
Moderate: Animal death, Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, Gaslighting, Child death, Confinement, Death, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders