Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

148 reviews

lindsayvandamme's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

rachelranelli's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

cats_n_plants_n_cats_n_plants's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

lilliaunajane's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

strangeweather98's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

cloha's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

“Finny?” “Oh Autumn.”

Ending was abrupt but not entirely unexpected. I think it portrayed childhood friends and young love well. The book read to me like it was trying to be a modern day Romeo and Juliet story. Right as everything fell into place, all was lost. It was upsetting and taught the importance of being honest. Any book that has the power to do this, is a decent book to me. The character types were kind of cringe but I guess there's a level of realism with that, since coming-of-age is generally thought to be a cringey part of our lives. It was realistic to how we are before we transition into adulthood. My issue is that I don't really know what age range to place this book. Seemed like it was a pretty light read until the end. The whiplash felt unpleasant more than it surprising me or challenging me or giving me something to chew on. It felt a little sloppy even? Like the plot was too clunky or the foreshadowing was too obvious or the characters were too predictable? Unsure. But some positives were that I enjoyed reading about Autumn's friend group. I thought the titling of things like the "Steps to Nowhere" and "The Mothers" was a creative touch. I was pretty invested in the characters by the end of book, so when Sasha and Jamie become a thing, I was so appalled. That's usually a good sign of being committed to the characters.

a few fav scenes:
pg 107 when both Finn and Jamie stood up
pg 88 the lunch table war
pg 132 protectiveness
pg 169 boys being boys meeting boy
pg 205 "Ales spends the night at Jamie's. Jamie tells Alex that he doesn't like Trina. That nobody likes Trina. That everybody likes Sasha. That Sasha misses him." - foreshadowing / power they had over each other
pg 314 "'Well,' Finny says, 'to be fair, you do need a ride.' 'No, I don't,' I say. 'I have you.' Finny smiles."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

lbooks4's review against another edition

medium-paced

• 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? Yes

1.5

Some characters are unlikable and the plot is irritating 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Self harm and Suicide attempt

sarahshock's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the best books I've ever read. 10/10 recommended!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

summersquash01's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

5.0

So I adored the book. I loved it so much, i started crying in the end.

WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE FINNY 😭

Laura nowlin has a very basic style of writing, however i loved it. Just a small criticism: the plot was way too slow. In my opinion,

the breakup with Jamie should’ve been way earlier than in the last 150 pages or smth

to actually let the relationship between autumn and finny flourish. 
The beginning was interesting, but the middle was quite boring, the end took me by surprise tho. 
Overall, i loved the book, and i read the second one (if only i had told her) in a day or so. Absolutely adored it. Thank you for blessing me with this masterpiece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

lesmagana's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not sure how or why people would physically cry over the ending, it was okay. It’s teenage love which is not what I had expected going into it. Not a big fan of the writing style, but it did keep me wanting to read more. The story dragged a bit though and was predictable (predictable doesn’t always mean bad). A younger audience would enjoy it more I believe. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death, Car accident, and Alcohol