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darriqueen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
leweylibrary's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
WOW. And I mean WOW.
First of all, I'm super annoyed with myself for not reading this sooner, and I'm now absolutely reading everything Akwaeke Emezi has written and will write.
There are books that are good, that you enjoy and think "hm yes, this is a good book, I am having a good time." But then there are BRILLIANT books. They're the ones that you can sense right away that this is something special. This is brilliance brewing right before your eyes. The prose not only immediately sucks you into the story, but it also sets your mind whirring and leaves you in awe at its beauty. I am such a sucker for a great metaphor, and they are just 🤌 in this book. There was plenty of action and mystery to keep the pace up, but what's going to keep me thinking about this book forever is the overall premise, the darkness of it. Also I just finished A Series of Unfortunate Events right before this, and what a perfect follow-up. The world isn't split evenly and cleanly into darkness and light, good and bad. Angels can be monsters. Monsters can be very normal people. Angels can seem scary and be capable of bad but be good intentioned. Scared kids can be the brave heroes that save their loved ones. And good lord don't even get me started on the social commentary of justice and it's mishandling, victim blaming, and how much people don't want to see what's really right in front of them just because it's bad.
On a very different note, I'm a librarian, so I loved the library love, but I absolutely loved Ube's character. Just the sentence alone about him being dark-skinned and in a wheelchair defies librarian stereotypes so much. Plus the scene where he gives them the pamphlets on monsters and tells them that that's his job, to give them the information they need and asked for regardless of what their parents may think? 🤌🤌🤌 Best fictional librarian portrayal I've seen in ages.
Lastly, I know it's been said before about this book, but it is really great reading about a trans character and their being trans is just one part of their identity, the entire book doesn't revolve around it, it's not this huge earth shattering thing the MC has to cope with and lose friends over, etc. She can just be. And then be a cool monster hunter 😎👹
Quotes:
First of all, I'm super annoyed with myself for not reading this sooner, and I'm now absolutely reading everything Akwaeke Emezi has written and will write.
There are books that are good, that you enjoy and think "hm yes, this is a good book, I am having a good time." But then there are BRILLIANT books. They're the ones that you can sense right away that this is something special. This is brilliance brewing right before your eyes. The prose not only immediately sucks you into the story, but it also sets your mind whirring and leaves you in awe at its beauty. I am such a sucker for a great metaphor, and they are just 🤌 in this book. There was plenty of action and mystery to keep the pace up, but what's going to keep me thinking about this book forever is the overall premise, the darkness of it. Also I just finished A Series of Unfortunate Events right before this, and what a perfect follow-up. The world isn't split evenly and cleanly into darkness and light, good and bad. Angels can be monsters. Monsters can be very normal people. Angels can seem scary and be capable of bad but be good intentioned. Scared kids can be the brave heroes that save their loved ones. And good lord don't even get me started on the social commentary of justice and it's mishandling, victim blaming, and how much people don't want to see what's really right in front of them just because it's bad.
On a very different note, I'm a librarian, so I loved the library love, but I absolutely loved Ube's character. Just the sentence alone about him being dark-skinned and in a wheelchair defies librarian stereotypes so much. Plus the scene where he gives them the pamphlets on monsters and tells them that that's his job, to give them the information they need and asked for regardless of what their parents may think? 🤌🤌🤌 Best fictional librarian portrayal I've seen in ages.
Lastly, I know it's been said before about this book, but it is really great reading about a trans character and their being trans is just one part of their identity, the entire book doesn't revolve around it, it's not this huge earth shattering thing the MC has to cope with and lose friends over, etc. She can just be. And then be a cool monster hunter 😎👹
Quotes:
- Other citizens of Lucille put dozens of white candles at the base of each monument, hung layers of marigold necklaces around the neck of the statues, and, when they walked past, would often false silent for a moment and press a poem against the stone, soaking up the heat the sun had left in it, remembering the souls the stone was holding. They'd remember the marches and vigils, the shaky footage that was splashed everywhere of their deaths (a thing that wasn't allowed anymore, that gruesome dissemination of someone's child gasping in their final moments, bubbling air or blood or grief--the Angels respect of the Dead and their loved ones). The people of Lucille would remember the temples that were bombed, the mosques, the acid attacks, the synagogues. Remembering was important. (3)
- She Loved being in the library, the almost sacred silence you could find there, the way it felt like another home. (5)
- Bitter knew her name was heavy, but she hadn't minded, because it was honest. That was something she'd taught Jam--That a lot of things were manageable as long as they were honest. You could see things clearly if they were honest; you could decide what to do next, because you knew exactly what you were dealing with. (7)
- Angels aren't pretty pictures and old holy books, just like monsters aren't ugly pictures. It's all just people, doing hard things or doing bad things. But is all just people, our people. (14)
- So pictures could be wrong--Wait, no. She'd seen too much of her mother's work to think (ital) that simply. Pictures could be flat out lies, yes, but what she was really thinking was that pictures could be misleading. That made more sense, more trickster sense, showing your eyes one thing and tripping your feet and another direction. Like stories. (14)
- Also, The problem is, when you think you've been without monsters for so long, sometimes you forget what they look like, what they sound like, no matter how much remembering your education urges you to do. It's not the same when the monsters are gone. You're only remembering shadows of them, stories that seem to be limited to the pages or screens you read them from. Flat and dull things. So, yes, people forget. But forgetting is dangerous. Forgetting is how the monsters come back. (20)
- Everyone, everything deserves some time to be. To figure out what they were. (22-23)
- Jam wanted to stay awake and think about what to do, what they had talked about once she'd left, but she was tired, as if a blanket made of world was pressing down on her. She pulled her hand up and slipped it into the cool under her pillow, sleep diving over her like a wave. (59)
- What, You like being feared better?
It has its advantages when you were a thing that does not fit. (122) - "Now, I want y'all to know that y'all's parents May not be too hot about me showing these to you, being as you mad young and what not. But all this was material suitable for kids your age back then, feel me? And if you come here looking for information, I'ma give it to you. That's what I do. Ain't no grown up in the whole of Lucille grown enough to tell you you don't deserve answers to your questions. You understand?"
-Jam knew how hard it was to stick one to your face around people You didn't have to do that with before. But when reality is diverged and you found yourself on a different path from people you used to share a path with... Well. Mask were useful then; not quite lies, not quite truths. Just decisions about what to be and what to show. Curation. (152) - I know you don't believe they'll change, but you're wrong. Lucille was made because people changed, because they did something and they wanted to protect others. But you don't want to give us that chance! You don't want to give us a chance to prevent the monsters; you want to wait until the monsters are full grown and rampaging, so you and the rest of your kind can swoop in and hunt them and save the day. Except that people, kids, are going to get hurt your way. But you don't care, right? As long as you have something to hunt. You don't care if people get hurt. I think that makes you more of the monster. (187)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment