pretentiousnerd's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Not gonna go on and on about this waste of time but yeah... don't read this book if you expect something extraordinary...
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Blood, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Violence, Eating disorder, Injury/injury detail, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Drug use
solanum's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Suicide, Bullying, Violence, and Eating disorder
kwansbff's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
My biggest gripe had to do with the relationship itself. Marianne is clearly a very traumatized and insecure person (for all Connell says she isn't, she is definitely full of insecurities) and throughout the book this only gets worse with the relationships she finds herself in. I didn't like that Connell was posed as the better alternative to a bunch of shittier guys. Sure, maybe he is 'better', but he lacks a level of emotional maturity and self-awareness. Every time he gets an inkling of how he might actually be negatively impacting Marianne, he doesn't look further. He just acknowledges it and moves on. On the surface this isn't a bad thing--I love books that focus solely on characters' dynamics and relationships, even if they're toxic or bad for them. However, this didn't do it for me, because it all felt very surface-level. The writing style and form, or perhaps the author herself, didn't allow for a deeper look into the characters. I especially didn't like how every Marianne section was either entirely centered around Connell or a different situation that would further traumatize her. I felt I was learning way more about Connell and his development than Marianne, which again, is not necessarily a bad thing if it was only from his perspective. It could have said something about how he views her. However, she had her own moments to develop, positively or negatively, and I don't think these were utilized as well as Connell's. When I got to the end, I kind of felt like I had only read half the story. An ambiguous ending could very well have worked with this narrative, but because of the way it had been developed for the past 200 pages, it just felt lazy. Like, a 'you come up with your own ending,' kind of thing. Overall, I didn't hate it, but it left me wanting something more.
Moderate: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault
dearbhlaq'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts
iris_sofia07's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Bullying, Death, Suicide, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders
heartsallure's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
hoping the show is better because while i did somewhat like the book it wasn’t as good as i was hoping
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Classism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence
Minor: Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, and Death
rieka's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Suicide
alexcribbs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Minor: Sexual violence, Suicide, and Physical abuse
bellari's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
elishahdavis's review
3.0
i usually don’t check content warnings because i find that i can handle a lot of it fine, and even if i had checked them, i honestly would’ve read it anyways. but i urge you, please check the content warnings and take them very seriously. also the list storygraph has when you first look is incredibly insufficient. it has the vast majority of the content warnings on their full list of them. so just be aware of that.
the ending was a relief, but i was still very uncomfortable when they mentioned certain parts of their relationship dynamic. the very ending, as in like the last page was good. she seemed stable, and it seemed right, especially considering their unhealthy and extreme co-dependence. i just— the way i felt reading this book? i never want to feel that again. i felt sick and awful and i can’t even describe it. it was very well written, and, surprisingly, i liked the whole no quotation marks thing. i just felt like ive been falsely advertised to. how can this be someone’s favorite book? how could you recommend this to people that you like? i don’t get it. i think me and sally rooney are over, just because if her other books are like this one i will not be able to handle them. anyways i really do not know how to rate this. i saw some review that said after they were done reading they just thought “why? what was the point of that?” and it clicked for me. that’s exactly how i feel. i feel hurt and burdened in the worst possible way, wondering “why? that wasn’t worth it”. that’s the best way to summarize what i think of this book.
now off to read some ya romcom because this book is actually triggering me into depression, and i mean that literally, unfortunately.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Suicide, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, and Physical abuse
Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, and Death of parent