mrmarshall591's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I did not expect this to be a 5 star for me as I had not liked It’s Kind Of A Funny Story as much as I thought it was (I loved the movie which I had seen years prior to reading the book) but I was so impressed by this book- specifically the 2019 audiobook recording. I was shocked this was written in 2004 although it made sense with much of the references. I agreed completely with the afterword by David Levithan and how this book and Feed both got so much right about what we needed to be worried about in the future of technology years before smart phones even became a thing. Also, as a complete showtune lover, I now am going to listen to the cast recording in full- instead of just randomly hearing some of the songs when shuffling through a playlist of so many different musicals… that also made me expect this book to be completely different as the songs I heard suggest the musical is very different. But I digress! Be More Chill is a very enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Sexism
Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Vomit, Body shaming, and Cursing
Minor: Sexual harassment, Self harm, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
graeae's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, and Drug use
Moderate: Self harm and Vomit
gabgon2597's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Suicide
boburnham's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This is somehow the most terrible ass book I have ever read and also very comforting, I annotated it when I read it for the first time, and those annotations are very personal now and I’m almost emotionally attached to the book?!?! Like it means so much to me especially because of how much the musical means to me. But from a unbiased standpoint? This book is the worst thing I have ever read. The weird self harm thing at the party, the slut shaming, the borderline childporn, and the zero character development. There was not one redeemable character. I would say rich but I fucking hate him after the childporn scene at the party. Micheal mell (book) is the worst character I have ever read about, he is absolutely disgusting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Self harm, and Bullying
Moderate: Sexism and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Racial slurs
cranedphoenix's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
It's not a bad book but the sexism, homophobic remarks and all that make it difficult to really enjoy
Love the musical and love seeing how it's different from that but eh, just something I reread to add a book to my read counter
Love the musical and love seeing how it's different from that but eh, just something I reread to add a book to my read counter
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Drug use, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Vomit
Minor: Fatphobia
ashleycmms's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Racial slurs, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Drug use, Bullying, Body shaming, Alcohol, and Ableism
Use of the r word, the m word, and the n word. Extreme amounts of sexism and misogyny. THERES a chapter in the book who goes to party and takes photos of girls. He takes photos of two teens having sex and posts them online. Calls himself palsy like in appearance. What does that even mean!!!! And there’s also driving under the influence of drugs without a drivers license or any driving experience. Arson/a fire. Just every aspect of this book feels like a violation.aniwillow's review against another edition
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
azyef's review against another edition
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and Bullying
Moderate: Sexism, Vomit, and Misogyny
Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
popsiclerainbow's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Favorite moments:
- Look when Jeremy was first like getting sexual with Chloe, no lie that was... an experience.
- The Squip is AMAZING. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. THE CHARACTER. THE SNARK. AAHHH SO GOOD.
Why I thought this book was 3.5 stars:
If you're going to pick this book up, know one thing, and that is that Part One is extremely boring. It was almost as hard to read as Dear Evan Hansen, so much so that I even joked calling this book Dear Evan Hansen 2: Electric Boogaloo. It lasts for 100 pages ish and is easily the worst part of this book.
Luckily, Part Two is fucking amazing. Jeremy gets the Squip in this part and trust me, it is the best thing to ever happen to this story. The Squip just adds so much sorely-needed action and character to this book and it easily makes Part Two one of the most interesting and exciting things I have ever read.
Sadly, the ending doesn't live up to the expectations set by the middle section. The ending of this book tries to really hammer home the message of "technology bad" but in my opinion this was done in a very sloppy and rushed way. Now in hindsight, there were hints here and there that this was the message the book was trying to convey (Like Jeremy ditching Michael, Jeremy stealing his mom's car and money, Jeremy being made to do drugs and shit.) so the moral of this book definitely wasn't just tacked on carelessly, but the delivery of it especially at the end was extremely poor. It honestly could have benefited from 30 extra pages to properly pace all the events at the end and draw them out for drama, but of course it didn't do that which sucks.
So, if you're willing to ignore that super flimsy ending and the boring ass beginning and focus solely on Part Two, by all means pick this book up. If you're not, then I highly suggest you go find something else to read.
- Look when Jeremy was first like getting sexual with Chloe, no lie that was... an experience.
- The Squip is AMAZING. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. THE CHARACTER. THE SNARK. AAHHH SO GOOD.
Why I thought this book was 3.5 stars:
If you're going to pick this book up, know one thing, and that is that Part One is extremely boring. It was almost as hard to read as Dear Evan Hansen, so much so that I even joked calling this book Dear Evan Hansen 2: Electric Boogaloo. It lasts for 100 pages ish and is easily the worst part of this book.
Luckily, Part Two is fucking amazing. Jeremy gets the Squip in this part and trust me, it is the best thing to ever happen to this story. The Squip just adds so much sorely-needed action and character to this book and it easily makes Part Two one of the most interesting and exciting things I have ever read.
Sadly, the ending doesn't live up to the expectations set by the middle section. The ending of this book tries to really hammer home the message of "technology bad" but in my opinion this was done in a very sloppy and rushed way. Now in hindsight, there were hints here and there that this was the message the book was trying to convey (Like Jeremy ditching Michael, Jeremy stealing his mom's car and money, Jeremy being made to do drugs and shit.) so the moral of this book definitely wasn't just tacked on carelessly, but the delivery of it especially at the end was extremely poor. It honestly could have benefited from 30 extra pages to properly pace all the events at the end and draw them out for drama, but of course it didn't do that which sucks.
So, if you're willing to ignore that super flimsy ending and the boring ass beginning and focus solely on Part Two, by all means pick this book up. If you're not, then I highly suggest you go find something else to read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use and Misogyny
The Squip gives a few misogyny-y vibes ngl, talking about how women are predictable and manipulable it was weird.yossy_cookie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Self harm, and Sexual content
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