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hayley_cook2's review against another edition
This book is terrible. I really expected more from the writer of the book thief. The writing itself is really bad and the story also sucks. The narrator is super creepy and only describes women physically. He even creeps on a 15 year old girl and Mark Zusak paints it as a good thing. I literally cannot keep reading past the part where he lures the whole town to church.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, and Gun violence
thecavewoman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First, I'd like to say that I did enjoy the book when I read it. It was very thought-provoking and made you feel for the cast of characters that the protagonist helps. The ending wasn't the greatest thing in the world but it was pretty satisfying.
The only real problems I really have with it is the protagonists thoughts about women and his actions. When he meets a female character one of the first descriptions he delves into is their physical beauty and while one motif of the book is the beauty in humanity, I still found it fairly uncomfortable. Not even to mention the protagonists relationship with "Audrey." His actions are where suspension of disbelief needs to come into play because the character is essentially stalking all of these people he's helping so if you give more than a passing thought to his methods things get really creepy really quickly.
All in all, it has a heartwarming message but you also need to not take the story too seriously.
The only real problems I really have with it is the protagonists thoughts about women and his actions. When he meets a female character one of the first descriptions he delves into is their physical beauty and while one motif of the book is the beauty in humanity, I still found it fairly uncomfortable. Not even to mention the protagonists relationship with "Audrey." His actions are where suspension of disbelief needs to come into play because the character is essentially stalking all of these people he's helping so if you give more than a passing thought to his methods things get really creepy really quickly.
All in all, it has a heartwarming message but you also need to not take the story too seriously.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Stalking, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny and Kidnapping
miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I do love this book a fucking lot, but babe, we get it, audrey is hot and u love her- YOU DONT NEED TO TALK ABOUT HER THIGHS EVERYTIME YOU SEE HER
‘He comes a little closer as the sun falls on its hand and knees behind him.’
‘He comes a little closer as the sun falls on its hand and knees behind him.’
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
sunflowersarepretty's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, and Death of parent
notreallyregan's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
This review is going to be a rollercoaster ride and will contain some spoilers. This is one of the lowest ratings I have ever given a novel in my life. I wasn't expecting this to be anything like The Book Thief. I went into it with an open-mind. In short, I hated this book.
I just did not care about anything that was supposed to be emotional. It didn’t work. This book was a flop in my eyes.
Live footage of me the whole time I was dragging myself through this book: 😐😐
Were all of the characters meant to be so unlikable? Everyone is greasy. The men are disgusting and oversexualize everything the women do. Ed claims to have strong feelings for Audrey but he views her as a sexual object more than anything else. His descriptions of his mother are disrespectful. He is 19, but sexualizes a literal 14 year old girl. It's repulsive. The women in this novel are treated like sexual objects. That being said, I think every character in the novel is flat and boring! Ed is awful. He's so uninteresting and has no complexity. No wonder his mom hates him. His friends are greasy. The banter is not funny. The dialogue is not funny at all. If some of the crude parts are meant to add something, it was lost on me. The fucking dog is the best character.
I had a hard time finishing this novel because it was not even a little engaging. The opening scene was awesome. There were sprinkles of intrigue throughout the novel, but it did not hold my attention. Trust me, I'm not hard to please. I'm just looking for a good time but this book was gross AND boring! I am finished with it and hardly understand the concept because it was done poorly. The entire thing felt cheap.
If I were Ed, you can bet your ass I would not have done 95% of the things he did. He stalked people. He was creepy. His moral compass was so questionable even though he developed a savior complex through his mission. He came to conclusions that no one else except the author who knows the fucking plot could have come to. The people on the receiving end of Ed's messengers were so calm with a strange man stalking them and loitering. No one would actually react that way. A girl like Sophie would have been terrified of him and likely avoided him. If someone came to my house for no reason and said, "I don't know why I'm here yet but I have a purpose," I would laugh in their face and tell them to get the hell out of my home. I would call the police if I caught someone watching me. Unless stalking is more socially acceptable in Australia . . . yeah, no. I'm still giving Bridge of Clay a chance with an open mind, but this is probably the worst and most forgettable book I have ever read. And I'm being nice.
I just did not care about anything that was supposed to be emotional. It didn’t work. This book was a flop in my eyes.
Live footage of me the whole time I was dragging myself through this book: 😐😐
Were all of the characters meant to be so unlikable? Everyone is greasy. The men are disgusting and oversexualize everything the women do. Ed claims to have strong feelings for Audrey but he views her as a sexual object more than anything else. His descriptions of his mother are disrespectful. He is 19, but sexualizes a literal 14 year old girl. It's repulsive. The women in this novel are treated like sexual objects. That being said, I think every character in the novel is flat and boring! Ed is awful. He's so uninteresting and has no complexity. No wonder his mom hates him. His friends are greasy. The banter is not funny. The dialogue is not funny at all. If some of the crude parts are meant to add something, it was lost on me. The fucking dog is the best character.
I had a hard time finishing this novel because it was not even a little engaging. The opening scene was awesome. There were sprinkles of intrigue throughout the novel, but it did not hold my attention. Trust me, I'm not hard to please. I'm just looking for a good time but this book was gross AND boring! I am finished with it and hardly understand the concept because it was done poorly. The entire thing felt cheap.
If I were Ed, you can bet your ass I would not have done 95% of the things he did. He stalked people. He was creepy. His moral compass was so questionable even though he developed a savior complex through his mission. He came to conclusions that no one else except the author who knows the fucking plot could have come to. The people on the receiving end of Ed's messengers were so calm with a strange man stalking them and loitering. No one would actually react that way. A girl like Sophie would have been terrified of him and likely avoided him. If someone came to my house for no reason and said, "I don't know why I'm here yet but I have a purpose," I would laugh in their face and tell them to get the hell out of my home. I would call the police if I caught someone watching me. Unless stalking is more socially acceptable in Australia . . . yeah, no. I'm still giving Bridge of Clay a chance with an open mind, but this is probably the worst and most forgettable book I have ever read. And I'm being nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
latsin's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Although the story is so so interesting and suspenseful and you want to keep reading it because the pace is so fast you don't want to put the book down, the thing that would most often jar me out of the story was the excessive comments objectifying women. You can find yourself gripped by the emotions of the story and feeling good about humanity ant then the main character will add an unnecessary sexist or objectifying comment and it honestly made me want to throw the book against the wall several times. I think the story would have done much better without, and I don't know if it was the author trying to write the character (the character is like that) or just the author projecting his views on the character (the author is like that). This book suffers from a terrible case of "Men writing women".
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Ableism, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Fatphobia
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