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cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- 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
I absolutely love the way these characters are built, to be honest. They all got on my nerves at different points, but I still cherished all of them. I really like it when flawed characters.🫶
Willem is wonderful, of course, but not perfect? He makes mistakes! He's selfish, even. Delusional, at points.
Jude has been through — more than most, to say the least. And to be completely frank, it gets old after a while. I get tired of hearing about his problems, and I get tired of reading about him falling into the same patterns over and over again. However, I'm sure he's just as tired as I am. Or far more, probably. When I realised this, it became easier to empathise with his character.
JB is such a wonderfully flawed character. He made me wince with second hand ... not even embarrassment, just pain. I love him, even if he's a crown dick at multiple points during the book.
Malcolm is just there, honestly. Emotional support architect. But I do love a homosexual who never manages to admit it.
However, there comes the problem ... that there is no plot. There is no plot whatsoever. There is no end goal, no ambition the characters have for the future. They just are.
Hadn't it been for the fact that I annotated and analysed this book (just for hobby), then I might have quickly discarded it...
The events are short and repetitive, and soon become extremely predictable.
Moving on to something slightly more off-track... the names.
Jude St. Francis is such a great name for a character. I love it so much. Fits him so well.
Willem Ragnarsson, however. Eh. As a Nordic person myself, I have to say that I'm a bit confused. He has a Danish mother and an Icelandic father who gave their son a Dutch name? It's by no means impossible, but William or Vilhjálmur or Wilhelm would've just made more sense? Don't even get me started on the fact that these two Swedish-speaking parents named their severely disabled son Hemming. In Norwegian (which in all honesty is not much different from Swedish), «hemming» means handicap. Hämning /hem-ning/ in Swedish. While I'm sure the author had no intention of this, it jus seems absolutely ridiculous of them to name their child eith cerebral palsy Hemming. Not to mention that no-one's fucking named that in Denmark, Sweden, or Iceland.
That was my rant. It was worth it, despite the occasional drags of COMPLETELY irrelevant information.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Ableism, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
santagus's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Torture, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Gore, Blood, Child abuse, and Sexual harassment
elliemackian's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Medical content
greenan26's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Medical content, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Ableism, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Self harm, Gore, Car accident, Blood, and Medical trauma
jessidbee's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Confinement, Eating disorder, Self harm, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Rape, and Suicide
anfripa'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Body horror, Chronic illness, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Violence
lenaschwr_'s review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual violence, Self harm, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Death, Child abuse, Body shaming, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder
madalynedwards's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This book contains many, many, many trigger warnings.Â
—
I’ll probably go back and add on to this review later but it’s 2 a.m. and I just finished this book and I am not okay.Â
Did I read this book because I knew it was supposedly heart wrenching and I wanted it to rip my heart out and smash it into thousands of tiny pieces? Yes. Was I prepared? No.Â
Okay, so I’m going to be honest, this was *almost* a DNF for me. I listened to it on audiobook at 3x speed and found myself losing interest. But I kept on trucking until 30% where I couldn’t decide if I wanted to DNF it or not. I rarely DNF a book, not that I think there’s anything wrong with DNFing, but I heard incredible reviews and wanted to keep going. I picked it back up a few days later and listened to the remaining 70% of this 800+ page novel without pressing pause. I was hooked - I couldn’t help but feel that if I put the book down, I would be abandoning the characters in their darkest times, and I so desperately wanted to see them overcome their demons and trauma (I did a little happy gasp when I got to the section titled “The Happy Days”, but rest assured friends, the happy days are not the final days.) The characters are beautifully flawed, well developed, and beautifully written. The strongest feeling I felt as I read was that of prolonged despair. Jude’s abusive past leads him to sabotaging himself, thinking he is not worthy of happiness or joy or love or, during some instances, life itself. And it’s heartbreaking. It’s absolutely gut wrenching.Â
Jude, it seems, was the unluckiest individual growing up. Jude made a comment in the later half of the book how he has been lucky all his life, but that is not true. The main criticism I have of the book is that I found myself thinking “surely one person cannot go through all of this”… it seems like Jude was in the wrong place at the wrong time every time. When he would reveal details about himself in little pieces, I would find myself thinking “this is the terrible trauma Jude endured that has resulted in his thoughts and motives…” but no, each passing chapter would peel back another layer of trauma he endured. I found myself wondering how one person could endure so many traumatic events, and during times wondered why the author was adding to these layers of trauma even after Jude had been through so much. So yeah, the main emotion, along with anger (for those who wronged Jude - and trust me, there are a lot) I felt while reading was despair. Pure and utter despair.Â
Graphic: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Death, Medical trauma, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide, Abandonment, Ableism, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Blood, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
katenico's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Self harm, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
feral_andro'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
minor spoilers
I did not particularly like this book and don't understand why so many people do. The writing was not immersive for me -- instead of showing the reader who the characters are, all we get are endlessly long descriptions of the author telling us. I typically really enjoy dense writing, but it was not beautiful or original prose.
As for content, I still don't know how I feel about it. As someone who has experienced abuse, I just don't see Jude's internalization of it as realistic. Yes, there are elements of realism, but I think the degree to which he has internalized what he experienced is dramatized in the extreme and somehow takes away from the experiences of real abuse survivors .... though I have not yet been able to find the words to describe why I feel this.
(Possibly because in the end we're just supposed to accept that some people are too broken to be "saved" and are just destined to die. And as someone who has been suicidal before, I don't like this suggestion at all.)
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Self harm, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Acephobia/Arophobia, Dysphoria, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship