delaneyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide
emilycmarshman'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual content
rionstorm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
There were a few nice pieces of writing, like the description of chronic nerve pain as "red webs", but mostly the writing felt clumsy, messy, and melodramatic. It has the feel of an edgy teenager's fanfiction, but not in a good way.
The plot feels very cliche but also doesn't resolve in a way that feels satisfying. It seemed like it was going to go in an interesting direction a few times, but then consistently took the most obvious and least interesting path.
There is also a bunch of weird moral implications? Maybe I'm missing something but the main character really seemed to be portrayed as a bad person for being unwell and angry about it. It was also peppered with fatphobia, and had a similar misogynistic undercurrent to Bunny.
Also similar to Bunny, the implied experience of madness/psychosis/delusions felt very much how someone without much actual information or sensitivity around the subject would write it. Gave me the vibe of, again, am edgy teenager RPing as a ~crazy~ character.
Overall disappointing.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Fatphobia, Injury/injury detail, Drug abuse, and Ableism
Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, and Blood
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
For any fans of character studies, Shakespeare, and darker stories, I would 100000% recommend.
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Medical content, Abandonment, Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Injury/injury detail
kateali's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Death and Violence
ekg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, and Drug abuse
hrserrano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
panyvina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Having said that, I didn’t love this read. In the first part I was hypnotized; I loved every single bit, I felt so understood with my injured knee, I appreciated the writing so much! I even read along All’s Well That Ends Well because I could tell it was just going to be that kind of quality read with depth and subtexts! And then by the middle part of the book I honestly just wanted it to be over, I was so tired and embarrassed for the main character I actually yelled at her a couple of times because I just needed her to snap out of it. I KNOW this is a sign of great writing because… that was kind of the point, wasn’t it? But for it to go in for so long I really couldn’t take it anymore. I honestly only finished it because I go on half an hour walks every day and I listen to my current audiobook as I walk. I do have to say the last 30% of the book took back what it’d left in the beginning and it was wacky and intense and I did appreciate it a lot, I also could feel how the author weaved the book in a theatre structure like I really can’t say this is a bad book because it’s really well constructed but If I ever reread this I would just skip the middle. The ending was nice, like a flower saying All’s Well after that damn nightmare but I did feel like it lacked something, I’m not sure what.
Moderate: Injury/injury detail and Drug abuse
cphunter's review against another edition
3.75
The alignment between the main character’s story and the play contained within is done with an interesting twist on the expected. The narrator is more than just unreliable - her whole reality is shaky and confusing to all the characters too - and therefore the plot becomes like jelly, wobbling unexpectedly and slipping through your fingers just when you think you’ve got a hold on it.
At time of writing this review I read this over a year ago and it has stuck with me really strongly, so I think my current rating is higher than it would have been at time, because creating such a stand-out concept and novel is certainly a feat.
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Hallucinationsgenny'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
5.0
Apparently some people found Miranda's POV tiring, but I was engrossed. Awad does love her "can't tell if they're still experiencing reality" protagonists. I work in the medical field so the discussion about chronic pain was doubly haunting to me; I don't ever want my patients to feel unheard, to become this hopeless, although I understood the struggle of treating an "invisible" illness. Other than the Weird Brethren, there was probably a bunch of other parallels to Shakespeare's work that sadly went over my head. I already enjoyed this so much, I can only imagine how cool it must be to have that added perspective. Even the interview with the author at the end made for great reading, with the explanations about how theater/performance/pain can intertwine.
I'll leave a few of my favorite quotes here because I don't know what else to say other than I LOVED THIS, it was so freaking good.
Spoiler
I felt a drop, I told Grace. Felt their anger in the filthy air. Felt the sword above my head. Felt my doom in the thickening night as we drove here. Three silhouettes looming in my side mirror, loping along the shoulder like wolves. But the dread had strangely left me in the dressing room. I even smiled at the fog all around as I parked the car and walked toward Grace. Walked, not limped. Not yet. I held up my aching hands to the drizzle. Go ahead, I whispered to the black clouds gathering. Come for me.Spoiler
Her leaf-green eyes have returned to their former brightness but there are shadows among the leaves now.Spoiler
And my tear-streaked face impossibly smiling. Not the brightly beaming face of the young woman from the old Playbill photo, not anymore. No more eyes like stars, no more blinding eclipse. This face shines another light. This face says I have lived, I’m alive. This face says I’ve known joy and pain, known them both. I’ll know them both again.Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, and Ableism
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Sexual content