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brandi_sue's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
briana513's review against another edition
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Forced institutionalization
telepathyjmin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Absolutely love the author's writing style. While Sonya's manic episodes throughout the book can get a bit overwhelming, the way they were written was done very well.
Writing a book from the perspective of an extremely flawed character is always gonna be challenging, and for the most part I think it was done well here.
Personally, I didn't enjoy the ending. The pacing was so fast leading up to it, and it felt very underwhelming. I wish we would've gotten to see a conversation between Sonya and her dad about what really happened to Sonya's mom, as we are just left to guess.
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
mrssarahshirley's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Child abuse
carley_vial24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
secre's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
There's a lot to like here; the character of the alcoholic and the struggle to beat her demons were very true to life. I appreciated that Sonya is a deeply flawed character and her flaws actively hurt those around her, including her young son who is dependant on her and yet is often forced to counter her moods. Sonya's battles with her cravings and her fight to get her son back were well done as well.
Where I struggled more was with the character development of the 'lesser' characters. Many of them seemed two dimensional to an extreme; David for example, goes from being a knight in shining armour to being a creepy and manipulative presence in Sonya's life. It was a sudden and stark shift. one that brought tension to the novel but didn't seem completely real. Likewise, the conflict resolution was handled too deftly, too easily, with none of the drawn out and messy chaos that would have occurred in real life.
So this is an interesting novel and one that may be worth reading if you are a fan of reading novels focused on mental health and addition. But it's not as powerful as Shuggie Bain and it's both chaotic and simple at the wrong times. The writing style took a long time to 'click' for me and I found myself reading out of obligation rather than enjoyment.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my review copy of this title.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Mental illness
krys_kilz's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
The ending was a bit abrupt, but I was really glad to see Sonya sticking up for herself and her son.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
booksaremyfavthing's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
Minor: Cancer and Child abuse
readwithsabs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I particularly enjiyed the fact that the author Lisa Harding narrates the book herself. It was an absolutely wonderful monologue. Well it felt like a monologue to me! It's very vivid and descriptive and that's one of the qualities of the audio in my opinion. I loved it.
Also, i just want to say that I will argue till I'm blue in the face that it is nothing like Shuggie Bain. I've seen lots of comparisons between the two books but for me they are two very different books the only similarity is the fact that they deal with the theme of alcohol addiction and motherhood.
My only hang up is that its a 5 star book and I would always recommend it but I wouldn't nessasarily rush to reread it if that makes sense? Not sure why.
It's a story that will stay with you.
And it did have an abrupt ending, which I didn't mind at all and was totally OK that it wasn't perfectly concluded, I mean how could it be when dealing with addiction and motherhood? It's always going to be a bumpy road.
Bravo Lisa Harding. You have written and narrated an exceptional book. Thank you.
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
bookbunny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism