Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

34 reviews

kalin_grace's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Abandonment

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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

4.75

yknow that image of the guy whos crying but holding a thumbs up??? thats how i feel rn

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content

maisie_q's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

m_riaelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

First of all, I feel sorry for those who've read this without the new final chapter. Just thinking of myself finishing this book without it, I knew I would have given it one star out of spite. I never wanted (needed) a character to actually have a break from all the shits life is giving him.

Second, as always, I'm here for the sad and intense feelings that I get from Adam Silvera's books, and I'm heartbreakingly satisfied. The twists in his books never failed to shock me.

Third, why not five stars? I would never ever tolerate cheating. I would have let it slide if it was done once due to poor decisions, but it happened for so long and happened again when the characters saw the chance to do so. I know the author tied the loose ends, but I just can't let that go. It does happen in real life, and one of the most things I hated is that.

Fourth, another reason why I didn't give this five stars? It's because I found myself skimming the first few and some middle chapters, which means it didn't give any impact at all. Also, I'm considering what I would've given this without the new final chapter, and for a debut book, this is surprisingly good.

CW: Gun Violence, Drugs, Mention of Armed Robbery, Suicidal Ideation, Grief, Suicide, Death of Parent, Self-harm, Homophobic Slur, Toxic Relationships, Toxic Friendships, Hate Crime, Homophobia, Cheating, Assault, Blood, Depression, Hospitalisation, Physical Abuse, Profanity, Teenage Pregnancy, and Violence (search it up for more specifics or correct CW as mine is what I thought was triggering while I read it)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

writingcaia's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

It’d probably be 4⭐️ if I had read the first version of this novel which didn’t include the new ending chapter. Like the author I definitely believe Aaron deserved more happy endings, and I’m glad he wrote them. 
Aaron is young adult boy living in a poor Bronx neighbourhood with his mom and brother, trying to find love and friendship and who he is, and to forget his dad’s suicide and his own attempt at the same.
In a world where technology can erase traumas and past pains, people will make choices that will reverberated, in not always a great way, throughout their lives. 
This is a coming of age story with a fantasy twist. 
It was a very touching tale of the need to forget, of the need to remember, of crippling memories, of choices that are not choices at all, and those that are but seem to be taken from us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Abandonment

rynaissanceenby's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.75

I have really mixed feelings about this book. I think the most important thing to know going into it is that it's problematic in a lot of ways, but the intention is to sort of dismantle the misconceptions that lead to those problematic takes. The problem is that it takes way too long to do that, and even once it gets there, it leans too hard into the misconceptions. It makes them feel like reasonable ways to think. 

I also felt that a lot of interpersonal relationships felt unrealistic, but this might be a product of my relatively sheltered upbringing. At several points I found myself thinking, "This is ridiculous, nobody would ever get into a physical fight over this" or thoughts along those same lines, but the reality is that I don't understand why anyone would get into a physical altercation over just about anything. So maybe that's just my white suburbia upbringing talking. 

Finally, I found the sci-fi-ish premise to be really dissatisfying. We were simultaneously given too many and too few details in order for me to sustain my disbelief. The basic idea is that Lateo can bury specific memories for you, but the idea that memories rarely resurface even with the triggers of being in familiar surroundings where the original memories happened is just a bit too far fetched for me. The pacing of this part of the narrative was a bit odd too. Lateo was hardly mentioned at all in the first half of the book, and it was absolutely crucial to the second half of the book. I think a little more foreshadowing would have done this book well. 

All that being said, I considered DNFing this one, but it did get better in the second half, so I think it was worth my time. Especially since it was an audiobook, so I listened to it while cooking. 

On that note, I felt that the choice of audiobook narrator was questionable. This story is told from the perspective of teenagers, and having a middle-aged dude narrate it...did not sound right. Furthermore, the voices the narrator did for the different characters were spotty. I was expecting to be able to tell who was talking from the different sorts of cadences and accents he was giving the different characters, but, especially when two characters were having a back and forth dialogue, their voices started blurring together and it go difficult to tell them apart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Racism

kataleena's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

I thought I knew how this book would play out and maybe I just didn’t read enough reviews but I was somewhat blindsided by the events that transpired. I think what made me sob my eyes out was that I could see parts of myself in Aaron’s story and I really felt for him. The only issue - if I could even call it that - with the book was that the only characters I liked were Aaron and Genevieve, everyone else was just okay, if that. I think the book would have hit that much harder if Aaron’s friends were actually likeable and characters that you can grow attached to. Regardless, I loved this book and I will be reading it again :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

tan_wayne's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

This book is so heart-breaking. The story is written beautifully, and the characters are all so well-developed. I kept growing so attached to the main characters, I begin to feel so sad when things started to fall apart. It deals with so many issues like homophobia, depression, and suicide.

I think this is a beautiful blend between “Girl In Pieces” by Kathleen Glasgow and “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. The former having a similar sombre tone throughout the book. The latter having a shocking twist that could almost be dethroned by this book.

I love how this book started out as a nice romance story. Everything from the cute dates t the interactions felt so romantic and genuine, it gave me the butterflies. The story slowly evolved to be darker and sadder, similar to a mystery. We were slowly given the missing pieces of the story that were heart-breaking.

I came into this book expecting only one ending I will be happy with. But somehow it had a much more satisfying and fitting ending (view spoiler), which shows how much I adored this book. It somehow broke me in several pieces and pieced me back together.

☆5 Stars☆

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cursing

pond_newt's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment

jennsp's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship