Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Luckiest Girl Alive

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

38 reviews

ksnizzle13's review

dark reflective sad

5.0

It really took me time to make progress in this novel and I kept thinking to myself at every stopping point how incredibly realistic and dark it felt - only to find out that

the party where Ani is gang raped, she wakes up confused, feels the pressure to maintain the status quo and keep the peace with her rapists, and wants to reinvent herself as someone else she believes is impenetrable

the author has first hand knowledge of this 💔

Although the content made it very difficult to read, it really was a beautifully written novel. This is my second time reading one of Jessica Knoll’s novels, the first being Bright Young Women, and I really have a better understanding of her as a writer, in a sense. Bright Young Women evoked powerful emotions of anger, sadness, heartbreak, and injustice - this was also my experience with this novel. I love reading stories with characters that really embody the complexities of being human - the good, the bad, the flaws, the versions we present to the world vs the ones we keep to ourselves. I really love her voice and how she opens up a window for the reader into a different perspective.

Content Warnings

vonny3492's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

Content Warnings

emmyshh's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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vanessacorwin's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.25

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david_brent's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Content Warnings

lifeisaeisha's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book if hard to rate because it does some things very well, while failing in other areas.

The good:

it's very hard to talk about
rape and sexual assault, especially as a survivor. So I definitely give the author her props for approaching both that and school shootings,
and depicting them both realistically.
The story was incredibly engaging. Although the characters were largely unlikable and at times insufferable, the plot had me locked in and I couldn't wait to get to the bottom of Ani's story and understand why she turned out the way that she did.
I think it was important to show characters like Ani's mother and
the planned parenthood nurse
. Women who perpetuate patriarchy by dismissing, downplaying, and outright ignoring obvious abuse.

The bad:

Right out the gate we are introduced to Ani's disordered eating, but at no point is it acknowledged as such, or as a thing for her to work on. Both times her best friend bright it up, she dismissed her and moved on.
The plot with
the teacher
was suuuuper unnecessary, and it was never acknowledged how creepy and inappropriate it was.
(A personal gripe, not so much a fault of the author.) I would have liked to see more of how
the documentary turned out and the fallout for Dean
. I understand that Ani's closure came from the face to face acknowledgement of his crimes against her, but it would have been nice to see him finally lose.