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urlocalhethey's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kstrammel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Police brutality
pagesofnay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, and Miscarriage
eeriekeri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual content, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Deadnaming, Genocide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
jaqylantern's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia and Fire/Fire injury
bisexualwentworth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
There were a lot of things that I liked. The dialogue was fun. Wyatt’s narrative voice was incredibly entertaining (though I can definitely see why some readers wouldn’t like it). Every scene that was just characters hanging out and bantering was extremely enjoyable.
I loved several of the side characters, especially Briar (though I’m not sure how I feel about the twist regarding her character, even though it was totally unsurprising).
The politics and the ruminations on oppression were interesting, but more on that later.
But then there were a LOT of things that didn’t work for me. Here is the list, in no particular order:
- First person present tense is my least favorite POV/tense choice for novels, and I especially didn’t like that the flashbacks were still in present tense. That was the part that really got to me.
- I HATE the term “theydy.” Hate it.
- Super fascinating that this is a book that is largely about indigenous climate activism, both in a real way and in a fantasy metaphor way, WRITTEN BY AN INDIGENOUS AUTHOR, that still centers a white main character. Maybe it’s not my place as a white reader to have an issue with this. But I thought it was a weird choice and I certainly don’t think it helped the book’s message.
- Wyatt was a deeply frustrating main character generally. He is annoying and oblivious, and every bad thing he does is justified as self-defense or something. I think I would have liked him better if he’d been a worse person, honestly. Maybe that’s just an issue with this book being YA. I don’t know.
- Honestly the fantasy oppression metaphor was very confusing. Were the witches a metaphor? The author was trying hard to make them NOT be one by creating a cast that was super diverse in a variety of ways. So they weren’t a metaphor for queer people or people of color, at least not intentionally, but it ended up feeling like they were an unintentional metaphor for disability, especially since there were no disabled characters in the book. Regardless, it felt messy.
- All of the interpersonal conflict was kind of annoying, but again, that’s probably just a YA thing that I’ve mostly avoided by only reading really good YA.
- I absolutely hated the whole soulmates/fated mates thing. ESPECIALLY when only one partner even felt this special draw to the other one. I think that’s an awful, nonconsensual way to wrote a relationship, and this book totally failed to interrogate this really really weird idea that there’s one person who’s perfectly fated to be with you. I kept thinking it would, especially after the whole Clarke thing, but NOOOOO the main couple is meant for each other and we just have to suck it up and root for them! Very frustrating.
- The transitions between scenes and the action scenes generally were simply not well-written. I was very confused about how the characters arrived at certain locations and conversations in almost every chapter.
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, and Transphobia
the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Genocide, Infertility, and Police brutality
mazomazli's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It also feels like the story needed some rearranging and adjustment of length of various scenes. There was so much potential :(
Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Genocide, Infertility, and Dysphoria
thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
Minor: Drug use, Infertility, and Sexual content
ocean's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury