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debstrain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Itās giving everything every lovable YA book gave, back in the day, but with adult themes thrown in there too.
Iām honestly obsessed with Oleander, sheās like a swearier Katniss Everdeen š¤£
Love this book and the only reason itās not getting a full 5āļø is because Iām livid at how much Iām going to have to fork out for the rest of the series. Canāt seem to find second hand versions anywhere and with each of the later books all costing between Ā£16.99- Ā£19.99, this new addiction will likely set me back almost Ā£100 šššš (absolutely not gonna be able to stop me though š )
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Vomit, and War
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, and Lesbophobia
jellyfists's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
librarymelancholia's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Yeah umm no. Nope, nuh uh, 1 star. Where are the trigger warnings? I thought maybe it was just because I listened to the audiobook, but nope. I just checked the Kindle edition and there's none. From what I can tell there's none on the author's website either. There's sa, literal sa, in this supposedly spicy book, and that's the extent of the smut, a r* scene. F* this book.
Olli, our main character is insufferable. Constantly whining, complaining and unnecessarily using the word freaking every other sentence. She's 19 but acts like a child.
The book feels so repetitive and goes nowhere. The main character is supposedly super powerful and scary but has to hide it all away and can't tell her fated bonds a single word about any of it. They all treat each other horribly and even the one guy who's decent, I'm sitting here wondering when he's gonna flip. Toxic with a capital T all but the one.
The r* culture just being accepted and acceptable is beyond wild. The fact that Olli is sa'd and the author goes above and beyond to convince us and the characters that it wasn't actually sa makes me so mad. The author could have done something really good with that narrative and spoken to what a victim of sa goes through, but instead gaslights Olli, her bonds, and us.
Among other triggers is k*dnapping, emotional ab*se, physical ab*se, mis*gyny, g*slighting, t*rture, domestic ab*se, cl*ssism, false impr*sonment, conf*nement, v*ctim blaming, and probably a whole lot more I'm forgetting.
On the language side of things, "freaking" appears 179 times, "b*tch" 55 times, "f*ck" 466 times, "sh*t" 181 times, "a*shole" 62 times, "d*ck" 34 times, and "d*mn" 63 times.
Originally this was just meh, like a train wreck I couldn't look away from. I was alternating between 3 and 2 stars. After finding out there's no trigger warnings whatsoever, it's a 1 for me. This may just be my new hated book on the same level as Haunting Adeline. I picked up book 2 from Libby because apparently I like torturing myself. I thought it had to get better. We'd turn around the plot on the r*ist and do something about him, but no. She's just crying over her freaking leather boots she couldn't live without that she lost in book 1. Like what?
Olli is a total mean girl, not a girl's girl.
The only good thing going for this book is that the cover art is gorgeous. So maybe we should stop judging books by their covers. Smh.
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Self harm, and Lesbophobia
fromlindenmere's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Drug use
geooo's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Graphic: Sexism
lag1995's review against another edition
- 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
1.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Murder, and Classism
readyourrights's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape and Violence
m_a_wyatt02's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0.25
Graphic: Bullying, Rape, and Sexism
melissa_rueff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
is a ānot like other girlsā girl and thatās really disappointing to me. Like the concept that you can write about a poly relationship yet you canāt think that other women who are feminine are not shitty for being so.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
The relationship depicted is severely abusive. I believe the author did that intentionally to create plot points, but the fact that the main character doesnāt recognize and then states the treatment as domestic abuse at the level it is really makes me question what this author thinks is okay. because everything that is happening here is domestic abuse and not even light abuse like horrid treatment is astounding to me. If youāve experienced any form of like gaslighting, or like control, this might not be the novel for you, I say all of that is a warning because I donāt feel like I was warned getting into this book. I did enjoy this novel it has a lot of fun plot points is an interesting concept. There are redeeming characters, but the fact of the matter is, thereās not enough of a warning how severe the domestic abuse is, and itās never really touched on even later on in the other novels and nobody really apologizes for the severe severe abuse outside of like āIām sorry that happened but it had to happen because of the plot points that wr as the character expierenced so itās excuseā which is a shit excuse and also abuse in itself. Understand me I like this novel but I am warring you itās a bad time.amre23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, and Abortion
Abortion is mentioned in conversation not attempted. Coercion within a sexual assault/content scene.