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remuslibrary's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment
_inge's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
I really didn’t like the writing style at all. Every sentence stretches out unnecessarily long, and uses so many commas, that it took me a while to get into the ‘rhythm’ of this book. I considered putting it down as the commas really annoyed me, but because the characters seemed interesting I decided to stick with it.
I found Pen particularly interesting to read about. She’s an autistic girl whom Pine has clearly researched well. Sometimes I was on the verge of cringing over an autistic trait but that was then followed up by an explanation (for example: Pen liked maths, but that part was immediately followed by a statement saying she wasn’t an expert at it like the stereotype suggests). I don’t really get what happened to her during the protest though, it wasn’t a meltdown or a shutdown but she became unwell and fainted? I also wondered how she managed to be that severely overwhelmed, but then still managed to go to a pub, to speak there, to then attend a concert, and finally managing to safely get the bus back home. If your brain is oversimulated it would genuinely struggle to do these things, but Pen seemed to still have energy somehow. Given this book spans a day I guess it wouldn’t have worked to send Pen home early to relax.
Ruth wasn’t particularly likeable, but that made her very realistic. Her story contained quite a lot of graphic detail on miscarriage, so that’s definitely something to be wary of before reading. Her story only kicks off maybe halfway through this book though, so for the most part I wasn’t really sure why it was relevant to read about a therapist having sessions and reflecting on her marriage.
I found it a bit confusing that perspectives from other characters sometimes popped up too. The book (obviously) focuses on Ruth & Pen, but we’d sometimes hear from Pen’s mum or Ruth’s husband. These pieces were really good and did help to see the main characters from another point of view, but they did take me out of the pace of reading this.
I’m glad I went with my instinct and continued to read this, despite the writing style ánd the story needing some time to settle in.
I found Pen particularly interesting to read about. She’s an autistic girl whom Pine has clearly researched well. Sometimes I was on the verge of cringing over an autistic trait but that was then followed up by an explanation (for example: Pen liked maths, but that part was immediately followed by a statement saying she wasn’t an expert at it like the stereotype suggests).
Ruth wasn’t particularly likeable, but that made her very realistic. Her story contained quite a lot of graphic detail on miscarriage, so that’s definitely something to be wary of before reading. Her story only kicks off maybe halfway through this book though, so for the most part I wasn’t really sure why it was relevant to read about a therapist having sessions and reflecting on her marriage.
I found it a bit confusing that perspectives from other characters sometimes popped up too. The book (obviously) focuses on Ruth & Pen, but we’d sometimes hear from Pen’s mum or Ruth’s husband. These pieces were really good and did help to see the main characters from another point of view, but they did take me out of the pace of reading this.
I’m glad I went with my instinct and continued to read this, despite the writing style ánd the story needing some time to settle in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
the_literarylinguist's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Ableism, Self harm, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia