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A review by starryybella
Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory: Stories by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Five stars isn't enough to describe my immense love and admiration for the book. I've had a lot of favorite books. It's hard to choose one, as many book lovers will tell you. But I think I found "the one". You may think I'm exaggerating for the sake of selling you on the book but I have never been more serious about my commitment to this book. (Commitment issues, hello?)
Love really is both the best and the worst thing in the world. It breaks, it heals, it hurts, it aches, it bonds, but it awesomely makes us human.
In the book, we encounter multiple relationships, ranging from a dog and his owner (from the perspective of the dog), an estranged half-brother and his younger sister on a family trip to Puerto Vallarta, the Up-and-Comers band through their rough beginnings and tragic story, and many more.
Love isn't just about the romantic aspect, although we do encounter quite a few couples, both through their pain and through moments of bonding. I started reflecting on my own relationships with people - my family, my friends, my colleagues, my exes - and seeing how love was often front and center of what I did for many people. Even as painful as some of those relationships ended or were strained by circumstances, love is what we all abide and communicate by. Love is omnipresent in almost all we do, whether the love is seemingly "over" or love being shown in all kinds of different ways we can't quite fathom.
If I were you, I'd buy the book right now, sit (or lay down on the couch) and take the book one story at a time. Drink a cup of coffee or tea with it, or water if you don't fancy either of them. I didn't use tissues even though I cried because I'm a wimp like that, but feel free to grab them. Some may move you, some may not, and you may not be a crier like I was. Each story, even the shortest ones or the stories with just lists as their stories, need reflection afterwards.
If I ever gift this book to one of my friends, it's the best gift I could possibly give to someone to show them how much I deeply appreciate and love them. I would go through the book to pre-annotate it for them so they feel like I'm reading it with them or them having my thoughts or what reminds me of them.
Love really is both the best and the worst thing in the world. It breaks, it heals, it hurts, it aches, it bonds, but it awesomely makes us human.
In the book, we encounter multiple relationships, ranging from a dog and his owner (from the perspective of the dog), an estranged half-brother and his younger sister on a family trip to Puerto Vallarta, the Up-and-Comers band through their rough beginnings and tragic story, and many more.
Love isn't just about the romantic aspect, although we do encounter quite a few couples, both through their pain and through moments of bonding. I started reflecting on my own relationships with people - my family, my friends, my colleagues, my exes - and seeing how love was often front and center of what I did for many people. Even as painful as some of those relationships ended or were strained by circumstances, love is what we all abide and communicate by. Love is omnipresent in almost all we do, whether the love is seemingly "over" or love being shown in all kinds of different ways we can't quite fathom.
If I were you, I'd buy the book right now, sit (or lay down on the couch) and take the book one story at a time. Drink a cup of coffee or tea with it, or water if you don't fancy either of them. I didn't use tissues even though I cried because I'm a wimp like that, but feel free to grab them. Some may move you, some may not, and you may not be a crier like I was. Each story, even the shortest ones or the stories with just lists as their stories, need reflection afterwards.
If I ever gift this book to one of my friends, it's the best gift I could possibly give to someone to show them how much I deeply appreciate and love them. I would go through the book to pre-annotate it for them so they feel like I'm reading it with them or them having my thoughts or what reminds me of them.