readbycarina's review
- 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? No
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
remie'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
4.5
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcoholism, Classism, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
kayleighhatesbooks's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Infidelity and Pregnancy
ifersinklings's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit
sowm's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Spoiler
while still showing how the American Dream does not hold for everyone.The book jumps timeframes every now and then, and there isn't always a clear enough distinction which took me out of the story a few times, although it is a minor thing, and if you don't mind it, you will like it. I found the pacing of the book to be pretty good as well, for my preference.
Spoiler
One major thing that I did not like was that Jende, the main character, was pretty misogynistic. While I understand that different cultures have different standards for things, it really hurt, as a woman who comes from a relatively patriarchal culture, to see Jende's wife, Neni, being prevented from following her dreams just because Jende was making decisions. There was also some physical abuse in there which I really hated. While I understand that it was to make the story impactful, it was something that I didn't particularly enjoy reading. I think it was pretty well placed though, and gave us an insight into why Neni kept going along with whatever Jende saidI think this book is a good book, I just did not enjoy it very much, and that is for my own reasons. I thought the writing was good, and you could see that the characters went on a journey, you just did not see very much emotional development from them, and I wasn't a fan of that in particular.
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Misogyny
Minor: Alcoholism and Drug abuse
There's some general misogyny from the main character towards his wife, as well as some drug use/abuse and alcoholism from one of the side characters.