Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

150 reviews

lena_2106's review against another edition

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

4.0

At first I hated it because the main characters are so incredibly annoying and I didn’t like them. But after a few chapters I started really loving it. They are annoying in the way people are annoying and while I definitely wouldn’t want to be friends with any of them it’s a beautiful story about love that I really enjoyed. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Ableism, Suicide, Cancer, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, and Pregnancy

sas_lk's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.25

It was a decent book, but I would not say it blew me away. I can't say whether that is because of my high expectations, or because of the book itself though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

Minor: Blood, Body shaming, Gore, Cancer, Drug use, Racism, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Cultural appropriation

crowlaplumme's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

 There are parts of this book that I really liked and other parts where I was lost and confused about how I felt about the book. Up until halfway through the book, I thought it was going to be a solid 5 star rating but sadly, the second half didn't land the finish for me.

[SPOILERS]

I REALLY wanted Sam to be the asexual and aromantic icon. Sadly that didn't end up being the case. Once Sadie had begun dating Marx, Sam's character turned into one of bitter jelousy and of the mindset that people belonged to one another. It was a bummer because I was rooting for Sam through his entire story arc, especially when he began experiencing phantom pains and depression. When Sam mentioned how he didn't care for sex during that brief rendez-vous with Lola, I was estatic, thinking that he was ace. I love a good platonic relationship between a man and woman, and Sam and Sadie's was just that; until it wasn't.

Sadie was an interesting character, her paranoia felt very real. Her depression after getting an abortion and losing Marx felt genuine. However, Sam pulled himself together for the sake of their company, while Sadie had a harder time. At some points, despite wanting to be empathetic to what Sadie was going through-- especially pregnant, it was hard to see her absence in the company and what it meant for other characters (characters, we begun to care for, like the other workers of Unfair Games, who couldn't continue to work on the DLC). Whether it meant delaying the DLC or cancelling it altogether, Sadie's inaction affected others at Unfair Games who had undergone the same trauma of losing Marx (sure, not in the capacity of losing a lover, but as a co-worker and friend. Not to mention, some of them were in the building when the confrontation went down.)

I'm certain I'm not alone when I say that Marx was the best character in the book. My eyes were glued to the page when we got that solo chapter from Marx's perspective. His romance with Sadie felt natural, there was a romantic interest initially, but then they became friends. It made their relationship solid. Unlike, Sam's 180 to desperately wanting Sadie's romantic affection. The best part about Marx is understanding that despite his death, the memory of him was able to pull Sam out of his stupor ("What would Marx do?"). His memory being immortalized by Sadie and Sam in their games, was a lovely detail to the positivity that he brought-- I just wished we got more of him alone and getting to have some time with understanding who he was without Sadie, Sam, and Zoey.

However, I felt as if that last portion of the book, with Emily and Dr. Daedalus was where it all really fell apart for me. Sadie consistantly made selfish choices that she blamed on Sam, inferring parts of his character. For example, she believed that Sam tricked her into getting back with Dov in order to get the Ulysses game engine for Ichigo. She made the decision to get back with him, but she goes about the story saying that she had no agency in the matter. I liked Sadie as the professor, who understands her shortcomings, and uses it as a positive experience to get others to grow. As opposed to making the game, with her name on it and blaming its poor sales on Sam's "sabotage."

A reoccuring theme about the relationship between Sam and Sadie is that Sam is the one constantly reaching out to Sadie and it is not reciprocated. Sam noticed she was depressed and stayed with her until she got out of bed. Sam was the one who had to pull himself together for Unfair Games. Sam was the one to reach out to her as Daedalus. However, when Sam needed a friend after his surgery, Sadie was nowhere to be found. Again, while Sam did not lose Marx as a lover, he lost an incredibly important friend, but Sadie did not feel that she could confide in him. Sam, who felt incredible guilt that the attackers wanted HIM and not Marx, yet Marx took the bullet for him.

(Also, the two men who stormed the building were unhappy that Mapletown allowed for same-sex marriage. A concept that Sadie recommended to Sam, for their friends Ant and Simon. However, Marx's death was the fault and action of the two men, alone. However, under Sadie's flawed logic to claim that it was Sam's fault, "They were after you," than, to an extent, she can be responsible, too. This is a part of Sadie's character that really bothers me.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Ableism, Death, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Car accident

Minor: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Racism

Internalized ableism

charliw90's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Murder, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Abortion, Sexual violence, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Death, Cultural appropriation, Blood, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Mental illness, Cancer, and Car accident

signeskov's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Cancer, Pregnancy, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Antisemitism, Blood, Vomit, Cultural appropriation, and Hate crime

adyn's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• 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

5.0

Would give this more than 5 stars if I could.

I would recommend it to anyone and everyone given the disclaimer that it made me cry more than possibly any book has ever, at least that I can remember. But it did so in such a beautiful way that I already want to reread it even though I just finished it yesterday. So strongly recommend, but be warned. More specifically, though, I would recommend this book to: 

• people who are tired of romances
• people who like games (especially video games)
• people who eat it up when a book is just possibly a little bit too artsy and pretentious
• people who like storytelling
• people who were maybe a little too into john green as a kid
• people who loved everything everywhere all at once (idk it’s a vibe thing)
• people in a quarter life crisis
• nerds, especially computer science folk
• former gifted kids

 
I loooove how it focuses on the complexities of friendship over any of the romantic relationships in the book. It's the perfect amount of artsy and human and relatable. This book is perfect to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, and Car accident

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Abortion, and Toxic relationship

maxel268's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

The first book I've read in a long time that slowed down time while I was reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Infidelity, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Murder

Minor: Eating disorder, Bullying, Classism, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Cancer, Cursing, and Drug use

alexandramiller's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Medical content, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, and Gore

dannothedino's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Ableism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death, Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Abortion, Infidelity, and Medical trauma

menglert's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I cannot remember who or where recommended this to me but I was not expecting it to be so sad. Maybe it was just a bad time for me to read this but I just ... bleh. It wasn't even like... cathartic sad. It was just sad. 

Definitely check out the content warnings before reading this one because some of them came out of left field. I'm usually a horror/thriller reader, but there were a few scenes that were so jarringly dropped into this story that I got uncomfortable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Car accident

Moderate: Gaslighting, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Confinement, Infidelity, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Grief, Sexism, and Suicide

Minor: Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Abortion, and Bullying