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arwa's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
tina94's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia and Drug use
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
shahana_bookquoting's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this book deals with some dark shit but the writing makes it oh so easy to get through it. usually when a book gets tough i keep it down & take a break from it, but not this one. i just wanted to keep reading it & the way it's written certainly helps.
is this a perfect book? no. it has it's flaws, the characters come off a little unclear at 1st & it takes some time to understand & get into it, & yeah some things are not very well explained by the end, but despite it's flaws it's nothing short of 5star read for me, cuz it achieved way more in 230 pages that some books are not able to achieve even in 500 pages.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Transphobia, Death, Body shaming, and Child abuse
emfass's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I am close to someone who experiences dissociative identity disorder, and while I don't want to compare their experience to a culture/ontology/spirituality I know nothing about and the parallels and contrasts therein, I will also say that this book was both incredibly profound and challenging to read, due to how closely it seems to reflect some of my friend's experiences.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Homophobia
moonandmadness's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Transphobia and Body shaming
valereads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
One thing I particularly liked about this book were the distinct voices of the different POVs. You don’t need the headings to identify whose POV you’re in because Ada, Asughara and “We” all have such distinct voices which reflect their very different personalities. This is something I’ve seen some authors struggle with in the past so I was particularly impressed by this.
I thought this book took an interesting approach to spirituality and mental health. I knew a little about dissociative identity disorder (DID) before reading this (a close friend of mine was recently diagnosed) but I’ve never seen a non-medical perspective until now. I understand this book is ownvoices in this respect. I’d definitely like to see a review from someone else with a DID diagnosis so as to see what they think of this.
A warning before I conclude: this book is potentially extremely triggering. Reading a little background on it and my knowledge of DID meant that I was a little prepared but I highly recommend that if you’re even considering picking up this book then to read a list of content warnings.
Freshwater was intense. It was an experience. There is little more I can say about it other than if you’re interested then you should read it (but read the content warnings first).
Content Warnings: unreality, parental neglect, car accident involving a child, graphic description of gore, abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, csa, cocsa, rape, victim blaming, graphic descriptions of sex, self-harm, discussions of suicide, attempted suicide, homophobia, transphobia, exorsexism, top surgery referred to as “mutilation”
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, and Transphobia
Minor: Incest