Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Syvään päähän

This was well written and engaging, but reading a book about a relationship where the red flags are all over (intentionally, it's basically the point of the storyline) is so hard! I'm a wuzzy who isn't made for living in that situation for multiple hours 😬

I liked the side storyline with the letter writing elder, and the swing dancing too! ^^

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bash5617's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative fast-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

1.5

I found the characters highly problematic. I skipped pages 150-275. The last 15 pages redeem half a star.

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witchyweirdo's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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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eepemma's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted tense 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? Yes

5.0

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ellanarose's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-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? It's complicated

2.5

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aretiness25's review against another edition

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3.5

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decklededgess's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

trigger warnings: non consent and dubious consent situations, sexual content, abusive relationships, cheating

The first five chapters of this book imply it's going to be a hilarious comedic romance instead it turns out to be a self discovery book revolving around an abusive relationship with hilarious elements that you feel bad for laughing at.
One point of contention in the plot is that a romantic partner is polyamorous and the main character has an issue with that. In certain situations it certainly could read as misrepresenting polyamorous relationships, maybe even villainizing. As an outsider to the community it didn't read as such because this was hundred percent more about the partner being a vile person when not getting their way instead of like...normalizing a poly relationship. Every subcommunity has their good and bad aspects and this book simply represents one of the bad aspects.
As long as you go into this book with the awareness that what is being represented isn't a reflection of the community as a whole or a statement on polyamory as a whole then you're good to go. It's well written, it's nuanced in its understanding of abusive relationships, and does a stellar job of indicating that the issue that is marked as "cheating" can be addressed by the MC advocating for her needs in her relationship (with the explicit understanding that the relationship is abusive and therefore there are some exceptions to conflict resolution here).

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