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jelliestars's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Classism, and Deportation
nils_0's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit
booksandboba's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
When I first read it, I loved it, loved the writing style and character development (it was my first or one of my first encounters with writing like this), really related to descriptions of anxiety and depression, considered it my favorite book. Read it a second time and started forming doubts, particularly with noticing issues of classism and racism. Read it a third time, this time annotating heavily for themes present throughout the book (question of fate vs free will, good vs bad and moral responsibility, depression and grief vs hope, art and its beauty and importance, friendship and love, impermanence vs permanence, time, life and death) and enjoyed doing that, but in doing so realized that the book really could have been edited better. I found the ending to be sloppy and not satisfying. And the way that blatant racism is used in the book (equating East Asian and especially Chinese culture and objects with cheapness) is just appalling.
And apparently it took 10 years or more to write this book, which either means that those choices were deliberate and well-thought out, choosing to only have people of color represented in minor roles mostly as working class serving the white upper class, choosing to use racist notions to make character points, or she somehow in all that time failed to consider these choices — why she might be making them, what they mean, what sort of impact they would have — despite the clear time and attention to detail given to making this book.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Classism
Minor: Pregnancy
emmawoodhouse'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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Violence and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, and Car accident
cstein's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment
Minor: Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, and Classism
ladybergart'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Minor: Eating disorder and Murder
morbidanatomy'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia and Infidelity
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
faerieevee'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Car accident
laura9955's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Animal cruelty
macca23'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Murder, and Toxic friendship