Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

102 reviews

carolinereadsalot's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is wild!! Such conflicting feelings about it but also couldn’t put it down. Read in a day! Read with an open mind and a lot of tissues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Eating disorder, and Gun violence

kerrimills's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

This was an easy read book. But challenging for other reasons. As the main focus of the book is of two children who live in a broken drug fuelled family who get protected by a young man who serves jail time for sexual assault of a minor, despite it being consensual and even having documentation for permissionto marry the child. There is lots to discuss about this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, and Death of parent

mariellyreads76689's review

it was too much, Kellen was talking to wavy like she’s his girlfriend. He called her his “ bike b*tch “ and I didn’t like that. It was soooo weird how he talked about her, it made me very uncomfortable. I had such high hopes for this book, maybe I couldn’t finish it because I either couldn’t relate to it , or I’m sensitive🤷🏻‍♀️. Anyway I will never touch or look at this book ever again! Thank you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Violence

amandalachelle's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cancer, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Body shaming, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Murder, Grief, Mental illness, Violence, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia

bookitchewie's review against another edition

4.0

This was a really difficult, but highly readable book. It was so fast-paced, I couldn't put it down. It was told so honestly, neither sensationalizing nor glossing over the triggering elements. Wavy was raw and tenacious, and by the end I think you fully understand why Wavy makes the choices she does, and it feels fated, or maybe just inevitable.

What other path could she have taken, with the parents she had and trauma she suffered? I don't think I ever saw Kellen as a sympathetic character, but he certainly paid for what he did, and by the end you can see that he's fully devoted to Wavy and a good surrogate father to Don. Wavy seems to fully understand at the end why the relationship was wrong, but you get the sense that it was the lesser-of-two-evils.

Just because someone loves you, doesn't mean they can't hurt you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use and Domestic abuse

beccadyerhair's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

riella_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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

I feel weird giving this a rating based on the premise of the book. But this was interesting and powerful. I think getting the different perspectives of this unorthodox and taboo romance added a layer I wasn't expecting. The ending is also not something I saw coming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug use, Antisemitism, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Car accident, and Child abuse

petrichor431's review

emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

celeste77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

I honestly don't know what to say about this book. I did not read the trigger warnings so that is on me. It started out as difficult in respect to Wavy's life, but I did not expect it to turn into what it did as the story progressed. I am giving it 3 stars primarily on the first part of the book, but I am conflicted on if it deserves that based on the second part of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Murder, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Violence

erica_reads01's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My immediate reaction when I finished this book was that I don’t know how I feel. The story was beautifully written but it’s a horrible, traumatic story. There are multiple point of views which help to articulate how the two main characters feel and how others perceive them and the situation. You feel sympathy for people you don’t want to sympathize with and I think there’s an unnecessary level of shock value. It’s highly controversial and it didn’t have to be, but I’ll certainly be thinking about it for a while. And it gets people talking about it whether they’re defending or criticizing it. It’s not a love story. But it could have been. And I would have loved it if it were. In many ways I think the story could have been beautiful and uplifting if it were about a girl and a boy of similar age in similar life circumstance. 

I would have loved the ending if that were the case. Instead when Kellen and Wavy end up together, part of me wanted them to go their separate ways. I think realistically they would have never lasted. Kellen is described as slow and uneducated. He’s rough and likes to fight and doesn’t think much about his actions. He’s described like a boy personality wise and physically portrayed like a big scary man. But he doesn’t grow up, and in the end Wavy does grow. What happens when she outgrows him? Will she ever? Or will she feel bonded by the trauma they endured? Did he prevent her from living a better life and meeting people her own age or were her home circumstances so messed up that she would have never gotten out? Could something worse have happened to her if he didn’t step in? Did he help her or hurt her? He did both.

 

This is not an age gap romance. This is not a happy love story. This is about a girl who’s had a really tough life and the people who either take advantage of her or try to help her. Her aunt was portrayed like a villain for the way in which she tried to help. She was an antagonist but her opinions and feelings on their inappropriate relationship was probably the only realistic one.  I don’t think the time period or the circumstances justify what kellen does. Wavy wasn’t mature for her age. Parentification forced her to grow up and care for others in a way no child should have to. And she was a child. In the end I felt such a strong emotional connection to her and wanted her and her brother to find happiness.  I couldn’t put this book down. I read it in less than two days but I’ll be thinking about it a lot longer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Drug use

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Racism, Death of parent, Violence, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts