Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

20 reviews

shaleen64's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

A perfect example of the miscommunication trope that follows Rosie and Will from teenagers to middle age.

The story explores growing up, loss, grief, navigating relationships, making a life for yourself and the people you need around you to achieve that. The piano scene is heartbreaking in the best possible way.

It’s often compared to Normal People, and because the main trope is the same it’s clear why, but I found the main characters in Normal People more relatable. But even so, if you enjoyed Normal People you will enjoy this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Mental illness, Self harm, and Medical content

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use and Vomit

geoalice23's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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? Yes

3.0

my love for the writing style grew at the same rate my hate for the plot did 

tw: trauma bond 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

debs2282's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Absolutely amazing debut novel. The characters were rich and I just wanted more and more. Excellent book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Eating disorder, and Suicide attempt

ellieroberts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Self harm

nzmerchant's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

3.5

Genuinely don’t know how to rate this book because it made me feel so many things all at once, and i hate that but it’s also kinda done it’s job in that sense? Feel like I need a couple of weeks to process this book. Anyone who says it’s like “Normal People” is lying - it’s probably closer to “A Little Life” in terms how much trauma and shit that characters are put through. I will say (no pun intended) that I loved the theme about passions and following what you love, filling your life and time with that. But I cannot stand how much the characters had to endure to learn that. And I don’t think this level of “yearning” should be glorified or aspired to. These kids trauma bonded and formed an unhealthy attachment to each other - whether that got healthier at the end when they worked on themselves, idk but it just seems rather odd to me that everyone thinks this is romantic. Or maybe I’m just projecting at this point because it scares me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Abandonment

alyssastager's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

aileensbookshelf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

nineinchnails's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

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

2.75

i genuinely wanted to like this so badly but it just falls flat. i think reading this with the normal people comparisons in mind ruined this for me because i love normal people and, aside from the lack of speech marks, they had very little in common. the writing felt stilted and shallow so i struggled feeling connected to our main characters (i found the other characters a lot more intriguing though) and it doesn't help that i found them very annoying. i tend to like "unlikeable" characters but will and rosie were boring above all else. the prose comes off quite tryhard tumblrina to me but i can see why some people might enjoy it this book just wasn't for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

bookedwithannie's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism