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challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
The Energy: Nuanced. Expressive. Raw.
The Scene: šŗšø A New Jersey town (I think), near Manhattan, NY
The POVs: We follow two POVs. One is of a sensitive (perhaps overly so) professor who turned to food for comfort and became increasingly isolated after an accusation at work. The other is of an 18-year-old whose mother knew the former professor; they are trying to manage their motherās illnesses while finding a way to expedite the start of their adult life when tragedy strikes.
š¬ Tale-Telling: Audio brought the story to life, I would recommend it over text only. Arthurās narrator used deep, sometimes labored breathing to mirror the characterās emotions. Kels narration was sometimes jarring because itās written like an 18 year-old non-writer wrote it. The switch to his perspective would have been hard for me to read because itās so simplistic and staccato, but his narrator captured that as a reflection of his youth and education by speaking with different emotion and tone.
š„ Characters: Arthur, Yolanda, and Kels were loveable characters for me, while I found Charlene selfish and insufferable (I still wanted to read about her though). I loved the evolution of Arthur from perceived pretentiousness to a raw admission of his vulnerabilities. Kels was initially easy to dismiss as a stereotype, until we see why deeply hurt youth may start acting out from a place of fear and stress.
š¤ Reader Role: Weāre part bystander, partā¦friend? The characters kind of give personal essays asking us to understand them and feel their pain and triumphs. If you're drawn into their world, putting this book down becomes a challenge. If not, I imagine it would be so boring!
šŗļø Ambiance: The ambiance was crafted with emotional details. It was vibe heavy where each setting was āfeltā rather than described by detail.
š„ Fuel: The unfolding of characters' livesāpondering over the 'what ifs' and 'what will be's. Why are the characters the way they are? Will they rise above or self-destruct?
š Journey: A slow, steadily plodding story that justā¦ends. It captured life's complexities through its characters', with the the butterfly effect of decisions and their repercussions. The open-ended conclusion wasnāt horrible, parts of it I liked since it was left to reader interpretation whether itās a sad or happy ending. But there is so little closure ā we donāt know anything about some of the key mysteries for the characters and we arenāt sure how they end up just as a key moment is about to occur. It ended so abruptly I checked to see if my audiobook was broken.
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š Howls: That endingā¦.I need to talk to someone about that ending.
š© Tail Wags: The realism. The way tragedy and sadness were balanced with moments of hope and happiness. The portrayal of the characters.
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Mood Reading Match-Up:
- Contemporary fiction with tragedies, slice of life snapshots, experiences
- Heart wrenching and heartwarming character studies and plots
- Moments of what-could-have-been romance and friendships
- Themes of comfort, addiction, connection, childhood trauma, rejection, perception, struggle and resilience, belonging and acceptance.
Content Heads-Up: Unhealthy obesity (medical, challenges, experience). 9/11 (brief recall). Mental illness (depression). Medical (autoimmune). Alcoholism, pharmaceutical drug abuse. Suicide, suicide attempts and thoughts. Parental rejection (of adult child). Parental neglect (physical). Loss of a parent. Loss of a friend.
Rep: White, Latina, and ambiguous Americans. Heterosexual.
š Format: Library Audio
My musings š powered by puppy snuggles š¶ refined by my AI bookworm bestie āØ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment
Minor: Fatphobia