Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - The List

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

aseel_reads's review

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Not sure how I felt about this one. From the get go, you know it's going to be hard for the author to write a complete story, which way to go, will it be a cliche etc. I felt that the author did a good job of showing the grey and the middle ground reaction and action of the characters. The last chapter was such a random plot twist, not sure how I felt about it

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ashcanpete's review

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

An interesting concept with 3d characters, i do think that the q+a section with the authors and one of the narrators was very good and added a lot of context to the writing

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mo_za11's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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sc0rpianna's review

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

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bethvance's review

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medium-paced

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

4.0

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steppenfreak's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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stellahadz's review

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challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The first half of the book had me really concerned - I found that it dealt with incredibly heavy subject matter in a shallow way, and I wasn't optimistic about the second half. It felt a bit "devil's advocate" ish, which was uncomfortable to read, and I suspect that was the point. I wish the author had taken more time to explore the relationship between Michael and Ola; it felt like I was told over and over how much they loved each other but I wasn't seeing it at all in their interactions.

The second half did seem to start taking the topics of sexual harassment and abuse of power much more seriously, and from that point on, I tore through the book to learn how everything would play out. I loved the writing style - it reminded me a lot of Zadie Smith (which is a huge compliment; White Teeth is one of my all-time favorite books). Each character in The List had a distinct voice, which really made them come alive. As much as the devil's advocate narrative was uncomfortable to read, and I think the author could perhaps have written it better, the theme of how easily social media can change lives, for better or for worse (and regardless of whether the people in question "deserve it") is an important one. A side character is described as "more than ready to sharpen her pixelated pitchfork until it pointed back at her," which I thought was brilliant. I've seen some criticism of the plot twist, but I actually quite liked it - it reinforces one of the larger points of the book, which is that sometimes things are really, really not what they seem. Jumping to conclusions is exactly how we sometimes miss bigger, more dangerous problems. Spoiler alert:

sometimes it's not the "instahoes," it's their vengeful boyfriends.

This book loses some points with me just because of how shallow I found the beginning, but I'm still happy to give it 4 stars based on the writing style and the improvement of the story in the second half.

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