Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Sunburn

Sunburn is both literal and metaphorical with the mc and first person pov, Lucy, experiencing the gloriously bright sun that’s making her come alive, and the subsequent redness/mark and constant sting that can follow if we’re not careful; if we don’t take care of ourselves enough.

I really loved this. An Irish setting is always going to get me.

A sapphic coming-of-age story including all that comes with first love (eagerness, starry-eyes, forevers, intensity, etc) and with small-town mindsets and religious upbringings.

I know that Martin wasn’t told until the end for a reason. He’s a gem btw. I still wonder what he would have said about it being a shared secret he was in on to stop his heart from breaking too. Idk. Obviously Lucy was not ready to deal with her feelings even when time told her how she would still grow out of the town and the ppl with or without Susannah

Content Warnings

jo_lzr's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense

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

4.25

The prose in the book is very poetic. This book describes love and sorrow and portrays everything in a realistic way. Both Lucy and Susannah have their flaws but they are also both humans, trying to navigate life and out of being teenagers into adulthood. Do not read this book if you don't like reading about protagonists who make wrong or immoral decisions.

It's heartbreaking how having no choice but to survive can turn a person into someone they don't even recognize. I think that this story could have also worked as Lucy's villain origin story. I liked the happy ending, I just wish we could have gotten to see more of them now that they have met again. Though, I do understand that it will take them time to get together, since they're both different now.

Recommended songs to listen while reading this book:
Altar - Kehlani
Melt - Kehlani
Making The Bed - Olivia Rodrigo
Not Strong Enough - Boygenius
Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan
loml - Taylor Swift
So Long London - Taylor Swift
Guilty As Sin? - Taylor Swift
illicit affairs - Taylor Swift
How Did It End? - Taylor Swift
my tears ricochet - Taylor Swift
Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? - Taylor Swift
Anti-Hero - Taylor Swift
High Infidelity - Taylor Swift
Is It Over Now? - Taylor Swift
Say Don't Go - Taylor Swift
I Know Places - Taylor Swift
cardigan - Taylor Swift
Dear Reader - Taylor Swift
tolerate it - Taylor Swift
coney island - Taylor Swift
ivy - Taylor Swift
October Passed Me By - girl in red

Content Warnings

directorpurry's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

hayleycorrigan's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective sad fast-paced

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

Content Warnings

jordanbolker's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

A beautiful coming out story that everyone should read! The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was that there was more internal dialogue and narration than actual dialogue. But it was beautiful, raw, emotional and I loved it overall. One of my favorite summer reads!

Content Warnings

jojothefool's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Literally if Naked in Manhattan and Good Luck, Babe became a book. I’ve just realized (again) I’m not like the biggest fan of literary fiction, there’s so many words per word. It creates some beautiful prose that really moves you and makes you think, but I’m basic and just like to know what conversations they’re having and the silly day to day trivialities. I also HATE in writing when dialogue uses the single apostrophe instead of the double quotation marks, but the novel was good enough that I could overlook it and read it like normal. Fun time, lovely sapphic prose, definitely recommend.

Content Warnings

More...