Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Parachutes

This was a really important, powerful story. I really enjoyed it, however, it definitely started slow and took too much, unnecessary time establishing the setting and the way the characters interact before getting into the main subject matter at the core of the story. When it got to that content, I felt it moved too fast, so a bit of a pacing issue in there, too.

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algaemarina's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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marigoldgem's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring 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? No

5.0

*please check tigger warnings before reading* this read was very hard to get through since it dealt with very really and heartbreaking topics but I loved it. Especially the authors note at the end. Also please be gentle with yourself while reading this book, it’s important but not more important than your mental health.

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taystalltales's review against another edition

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inspiring medium-paced

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

3.0

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thatothernigeriangirl's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad tense fast-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

Yang is a brilliant writer, that’s a given. I enjoyed her writing in this one and learnt quite a lot about the Chinese international student experience. She’s highlighted so many different issues in this story, including abuse, rape, sexual harassment, racism, homophobia. This was a good read and I highly recommend it.

As much as I appreciate the content warning at the beginning of the book, it took quite a while for that section to surface and it gave me so much anxiety 😭. if content warnings of rape and sexual harassment can evoke anxiety in your reading process, maybe skip this one.

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dyketerezi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

There are parts of this book that I really liked and parts that I didn’t understand at all.

It felt incredibly frustrating to have the two main characters go through so many miscommunications. I know that’s a large part of the book and the point, but the goal of making both Claire and Dani feel isolated during their experiences wasn’t achieved because they both actually did land up having people in their corner. It also felt incredibly demeaning of their experiences to have had a boy become the cause of miscommunication between them.

However, I did really like the discussion of how both Claire and Dani felt about their mothers. They both had such wildly different experiences with their mothers, but they were both incredibly relatable and emotional and I’m glad both situations with their mothers were discussed and resolved the way they were.

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