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
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
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.
—
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
oddgreyhound'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
It has hills and valleys, and more of one than another, but it made me love the characters. It’s long, but i think it’s not too long. fitting.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
ecw47's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Drug use, Eating disorder, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Body shaming
queerhoney'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: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Body shaming, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual violence, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer
peppyb'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Grief, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Trafficking
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Biphobia and Infidelity
maisieme123's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Trafficking, Child abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Grief, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Kidnapping, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Addiction, Blood, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Body shaming, Child death, Emotional abuse, Car accident, and Death of parent
ibjilln's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
If you're looking to read this, don't.
It is nothing but gratuitous misery porn.
It is not a book about friendship - it is a book about enablers and people taking advantage of one another.
The characters do not grow, or develop, but instead are simple "plot" devices to keep the pages going and they hash out the same problem over and over again. It's hard to feel anything for them when they do nothing to help themselves/their situation.
It's 700 pages of Jude unwilling to face reality that he's been horribly mistreated by nearly every one in his world, including his "friends", and in turn mistreating those that do care.
Once again, no. Fuck this book.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Vomit, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, and Eating disorder
Dead dove; do not eat