micaelamariem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, Cursing, Homophobia, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Mental illness, Outing, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Minor: Murder
asurasantosha's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Car accident, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Outing, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol, Drug use, and Homophobia
nicole_cries_alot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.75
I felt bad for not always liking Chiamaka because at points her attitude was awful towards Devon and she herself seemed to have some internalized issues. Another trope that popped up and wasn’t touched again was Chiamaka possibly getting drugged at a party. Over all I was disappointed and was surprised none of the characters in the background were flushed out. It felt like it was all trauma and no resolution.
If you liked pretty little liars you would like this. It was good and it held my attention but I called some of the twists very early on and that made it predictable to me.
It doesn’t live up to the “thriller” element that I was expecting
Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Classism, Bullying, Car accident, and Mental illness
m0rdred_the_fallen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Mi niño, tú no estás en esta escuela porque tu padre y yo tengamos dinero, sino porqué te tallas el lomo todos los días. El día que dejes de hacerlo, todo esto se va
Es una cruda verdad que los problemas que enfrentan los protagonistas sigan tan presentes y que, parafraseando a Chiamaka, les molesta más que les digas que son racistas al racismo en sí mismo; y se puede decir lo mismo de la homophobia, del clasismo, de los juegos de poder enfermos de estos grupos de odio. Aún cuando se nota que muy en el fondo saben que lo que hacen está mal, es un pobre consuelo para cuando usan su poder y sus recursos para atacar a inocentes. Tristemente, cuando el virus del fanatismo llega a la cabeza no hay nada que pueda hacerse por esa persona sino huir, pues el fanatismo y la estupidez nunca afectan a los que lo tienen, sino a aquellos que les rodean. Y lo peor del caso es lo compenetrado que está el sistema de ello, este sistema que no sólo promueve y protege actos de odio irracional; los demanda para seguir funcionando. El mundo moderno está construido sobre la sangre de generación tras generación de inocentes para el beneficio de unos pocos que se creen con derecho a todo.
En esta lectura sólo hubo una cosa que me dejó con ganas de más:
Spoiler
El arrepentimiento Belle se me hizo que llevaría a un arco de autorreflexión y luego de redención en el cual los Chiamaka y Devon le dicen, tal cual, que no pueden perdonarla y ya no después de 4 años planeando destruirlos, y Belle aceptándolo.Que haya sido un grupo de manifestantes quienes los salven al último tiene mayor peso porque es una comunidad que los acoge y protege, en lugar un individuo de una clase opresora que tuvo una crisis de conciencia. Eso, estuvo genial.
Lo que a mí gustaría haber visto es Belle recolectando información de Ases, delatando a la periodista y exponiendo a todos los integrantes en Niveus, y quizá algunos de otras escuelas como es que haya conocido por cualquier cosa. Pero que aún así Chiamaka le diga que no, no es suficiente por todo lo que le ha hecho. Incluso cuestionarla sobre su cambio de corazón, ¿Y si no se enamoraba de Chiamaka? ¿Se le opone a Ases porqué es lo correcto o porqué están agrediendo a alguien que quiere como pareja?
Lo recomendaria 10/10
Graphic: Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic friendship, Blood, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Car accident
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Addiction, Body shaming, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
123urmom'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Stalking, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Outing
Moderate: Drug abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really admired how Àbíké-Íyímídé used her characters to highlight a lot of the many ways that whiteness manifests to harm Black people. There’s the outwardly violent and malicious folks, but then there’s the white character whose family is poor and doesn’t necessarily benefit from class privilege, but who resents Black people for what they view as “affirmative action” or unearned advancement, and harnesses their white privilege to exert power.
Then there’s the “decent” white person who recognizes the harm of systemic racism and wants to be viewed as separate from it, but also does nothing to challenge it because it’s “too big” and they’re just one person—one person who continues to benefit it.
Graphic: Car accident, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, Drug use, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Racism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
sophiesometimesreads'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
4.75
This book took me on a ride. The book starts off very low stakes and I was questioning what people meant when they said it was high stakes but boy did it get more intense with every part! By the end, I was so scared someone was going to die, that’s how high the stakes were.
I didn’t trust anyone throughout the book, and rightfully so. The only people I trusted were Devon and Chiamaka. Despite this, I didn’t really know who could be behind it all for a lot of the novel. I liked how bits and pieces were fed to us along the way but didn’t make it obvious as to who was doing these things and why, but when it was revealed as to who was behind it, it all started to make sense and everything fell into place.
I don’t really know how to articulate much more without just using the mind blown emoji, this is really just a book you have to read for yourself to see the real impact it has.
The one thing that did drop this rating down from a 5 star for me was the pacing and one detail in the ending. I didn’t like the circumstances around the fire. Don’t get me wrong, I loved to see Niveus burn, but I felt like the explanation and timing of this was way too convenient. I was adamant that Terrell lit the fire as revenge for what Aces did, but they just explained it off as an “electrical fault”. It just felt very abrupt and too coincidental that it happened at just the right time. It would’ve been good if everyone else thought it was an electrical fault but someone had lit the fire and we knew who.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and it was a fantastic, strong, intense, thrilling debut by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and I look forward to reading more of their novels in the future.
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Violence, Car accident, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Drug use
gabyleyendo'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
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Classism, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Homophobia
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Blood, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicide attempt, Outing, Police brutality, and Self harm
allisonbrooke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Murder, Terminal illness, Torture, Death, Bullying, Car accident, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical content, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
shell_s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Gaslighting, Stalking, Racism, Rape, Death of parent, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment