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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
No significant violence
Language
Barely any
Mild language in Levithan's literary register
Sexual Content
Some
Adult gay romantic content; elegant rather than explicit
Substance Use
Some
One partner's alcoholism is a significant thread throughout the novel
Emotional Intensity
Some
The emotional weight of a relationship in all its difficulty — the infidelity, the addiction, the love that persists through both — is the novel's sustained and effective subject
What this book is about
David Levithan's novel tells the story of a gay couple's relationship through alphabetically arranged dictionary definitions — using each word as a lens into a moment of their life together. The effect is both clever and genuinely moving; the relationship includes honesty, infidelity, and the difficulty of loving an alcoholic. Adult content throughout in a literary register. A distinctive and effective work of literary fiction.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
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