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laura_tofflemire's review
Content Warnings
Minor: Toxic relationship, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Grief, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Toxic friendship
rebeccadiv's review against another edition
slow-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Body shaming
Minor: Animal death
i_have_worms's review
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia
americattt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-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? Yes
3.0
“We had loved people we really shouldn’t have loved and then married other people in order to forget our impossible loves, or we had once called out hello into the cauldron of the world and then run away before anyone could respond.
Always running and always wanting to go back but always being further and further away until, finally, it was just a scene in a movie where a girl says hello into the cauldron of the world and you are just a woman watching the movie with her husband on the couch and his legs are across your lap and you have to go to the bathroom.”
favorite stories: this person + ten true things
Always running and always wanting to go back but always being further and further away until, finally, it was just a scene in a movie where a girl says hello into the cauldron of the world and you are just a woman watching the movie with her husband on the couch and his legs are across your lap and you have to go to the bathroom.”
favorite stories: this person + ten true things
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia
Minor: Incest
scholarschism's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Bleak. Weirdly sexual throughout, like way more than I would have guessed. Complex representations of queer attraction but few people are actually gay? Some moments of interesting prose, but it was ultimately a chore to finish. I don’t think I will find myself looking back on these stories much, but maybe they’ll take on more interest in hindsight? I wonder if I just don’t “get it”… there were moments of resonance, but it overall felt mostly flat, to me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Animal death, and Pedophilia
cyb's review against another edition
1.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Incest
northernblonde's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, and Child abuse
seamoonstone's review
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I can't say I enjoyed reading this book, but I think that might be intentional–it would be repulsive to say I relate specifically to these characters, but I can say I've perhaps felt just as uncomfortable and lost as these characters. The narrators, regardless of age, are all similarly naive and whimsical, often perfectly capturing that feeling of adolescence when you realize you truly don't know what's going on. This would be enjoyable, maybe even cathartic, except that many of these stories are sex obsessed in an uncomfortable, even perverse, way, implying that the only way to connect with other people is through sex, but the sex is always transactional and exploitative. The stories that are not explicitly sexual are akin to an odd coworker describing their dream in detail to you when you just want to drink your coffee in peace. In spite of all this, July is a talented writer, and the stories or moments that did not rely on taboo were beautiful and charming.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest and Pedophilia
claired01's review
2.5
I really liked a few of these stories, The Swim Team, Mon Plaisir, and How to Tell Stories to Children. But most of them made me super uncomfortable. She managed to write about pedophilia in almost all of them I feel like.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship
rayannotates's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- 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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Pedophilia
Minor: Sexual harassment