Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - No Better Than Beasts

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

No Better Than Beasts by Z.R. Ellor

13 reviews

fanboyriot's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Read For:

Rivals to Lovers

Second Chances

Homecoming King

Cheerleader x Football Player

Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers

The only thing that comes to mind when I think of this book is: “I love it and hate it at the same time” and really I kind of do.

The queer kids in this book were amazing, everyone else just kinda sucked. The trans rep in this was so painfully well written. The things Jeremy thought and the way he described how he felt was as heartbreaking as it was relatable.

But wow, were these characters so toxic.

Naomi was such a horrible friend it was laughable. She was jealous constantly and she just goes and asks out her best friend’s ex, who had made it clear he didn’t like her like that?? Like why?? All because of some banters that were messed up, I get being petty but bro have a good reason.

Lukas was so toxic. One minute he was fine, going through a lot at home and having to always be the best at everything. He had to get into an amazing college, he had to win homecoming king because if he did that then he would get into a good school, then his family would care about him like they did his dead brother… yeah, because that's how it’s going to work. So he took his anger out on Jermey.

Jeremy was also toxic, just not as bad in my opinion. He was selfish and breaking up with his boyfriend when and how he did it was so incredibly messed up but people acted like he was the worst person ever. He literally had no one. His mom was so desperate to have a daughter she failed her son in the process. Jeremy might have been a mess but wouldn’t you be when everyone failed you and had no problem telling you that they hated you, he was bullied, harassed, and misgendered constantly.

The last few chapters were the best. Everything coming together, the person who got the crown, the drama being resolved finally, and the relationships being settled.

(Switching, First Person POV)

Spice: Lightly Mentioned

Rep: trans (ftm) MC, Autistic MC, Non-Binary SC, Latinx SC

Content Warnings

awesomemark's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

I hate read this book because I needed to see how long these characters would stay complete jerks and, spoiler alert..
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It's the whole book. I actually wondered at one point if this author hates LGBTQ+ people. Every horrible, self-centered, nasty character is part of the community with the exception of the school bully, Phillip. I spent most of the book rooting for the cisgendered ex-boyfriend who was just nice and accepting of everyone. Except then he started acting crazy and ruining everything just in time to come out as gay. There's transphobia from the gay kids, lesbian stereotyping from the trans kids, gay bashing from the non-binary kids and the gay guy who stole tens of thousands of dollars from the school to run off to be with his ex-boyfriend. All the straight kids are so sweet and accepting and using all the right pronouns while LGBTQ kids take advantage of them and treat them and each other like garbage.
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But good news! Everyone gets a happy ending and there are zero real consequences for any of them!

The author doesn't hate all LGBTQ+ people though. Just lesbians. At least I don't think they hate the rest. They just write some really toxic characters and I am wondering what the real point of this book is because it felt more like a lecture to the LGBTQ+ community on how to treat trans kids but Jeremy is an absolute monster and has no redeeming qualities.

Content Warnings

toadscreams's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

lunagirl_alice's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have mixed feelings so i thought i’d better get them out straight away. The start of the book was really really good, i was loving it so much and convinced it was going to be a high 4 star read or even a 5 star read. Then the middle really let the book down, i found it so difficult to keep reading because it was so unpleasant, the characters i know are supposed to be messy but some of the things they did were outright nasty and horrible and were way past “messy”. So that really disappointed me i think and that’s why i didn’t love it as much as i was hoping. The last third did pick up however and i really enjoyed it so i’ve finished with a nice feeling and i’m glad. I’ve seen people really hate how it ended and honestly to me the ending wasn’t bad. Obviously they wouldn’t fix all their problems and issues at the end…they’re kids.. literally 17&18 and if you expect then to have their life and personality ironed out and perfected then you need to really change your perspective because that’s unattainable for anyone at that age. I did like the ending, they both did some really crappy things and didn’t deserve to win the crown in my opinion so i’m glad that’s how it turned out.

Im not a trans reviewer (i’m Cis) so please listen to Trans OwnVoice reviewers about the rep, i’ve heard from other Trans reviewers that the rep was very realistic and good representation.

There was one line in relation to TERFs that i felt was unnecessary when talking about TERFs one character says “a lot of them are lesbians unfortunately, they hate trans people because they like to claim they’re the most oppressed queers in existence”. I am not trying to say that lesbians can not and are not TERFs, nor am i trying to erase the Transphobia within the lesbian community of which there is a disgusting amount, but that comment isn’t followed by any further explanation or rebuttals, no one challenges it or expands on it. If this was going to open a discussion about the transphobia in the lesbian community and highlight the issue this would’ve made more sense. But there’s nothing it just feels unnecessary to just villainies lesbians like that for no real gain. Especially as this may be some peoples first encounter with the term TERF and there was no need to the comment, it really served no purpose.

I am Autistic and i’ll share my opinions about the Autism representation in this book. Lukas one of our main characters is Autistic. I found the Autism representation actually pretty good, it’s not often we see any kind of realistic representation even in todays media for Autism so it was refreshing. Obviously I won’t relate 100%, i don’t think you’ll find many Autistics who will, if you know 1 Autistic person…you know exactly 1 Autistic person but also Lukas is a Cis Male, and i am a Cis Female and that does affect peoples experiences with Autism, but i will say it was good representation and i was happy to see it.

For anyone who wanted to know the author Z.R Ellor is an OwnVoices Author and is Trans & Autistic.

Content Warnings

tiredteoreads's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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? Yes

2.5

I was honestly really tempted to DNF this book. in the beginning, Jeremy was just too much of an a-hole and very unlikable, so much so that I found it hard to enjoy his chapters. as a trans man myself, I could relate to some of his feelings, he just definitely went about things the wrong way and was very selfish. however, I'm glad I chose to finish the book. I was afraid there wouldn't be any character development on his part but there was and I think it was done in a well enough way where it didn't feel too forced. something to keep in mind is that they are immature teenagers so their behavior is understandable (not excusable, but understandable nonetheless). overall, I didn't hate the book, but definitely was not my favorite.

There is one thing that still bothers me though:

will lukas ever get his wallet back lol

Content Warnings

darkmattersoybean's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

longlost's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This. This sure was a book.

I really wanted to like this book. Autistic rep AND queer rep ?? All I want in life. Unfortunately I just could not vibe with the book or its characters.

Lukas and Jeremy's relationship was not enjoyable to read about during most points of the book. It came off as TOO mean-spirited so so often and I genuinely don't see why

they ended up getting back together.

Jeremy treated Lukas like shit, and while I understand that

Jeremy was hurt by Lukas's comment on the day they broke up he also uses it as an excuse to vilify Lukas when like. There is no reasonable way he could have known how to respond to Jeremy at that point. Also he KNOWS Lukas is autistic and therefore has trouble w/ social shit, and yet it never occurs to him to say "hey, I broke up with you because of that comment you made, not because you somehow did a bunch of things wrong in our three years of dating" which we see Lukas is worried about from the chapters in his POV.

Naomi and Sol were fun however. I liked them.

I DID enjoy the queer power message in this book, and while I didn't enjoy the shitty school system it also reflects reality unfortunately so. I wish I could have liked this book more because I'm 100% behind Jeremy's fight to change the Code so that the harassment he's facing is Actually Acknowledged but I couldn't stand the main plot of fighting over the Homecoming crown even if I could sympathize with both character's motivations. The actions they took against each other just felt too mean-spirited.

Content Warnings

stinky_stew's review against another edition

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emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I found a lot of the side characters to be obnoxious and for as slow of a burn the book is I had a hard time handling how long the focus was on them. The resolution seemed short. It was a very slow burn I wish more time was taken to relish in the end

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charlesizan's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book. As a trans and neurodivergent person myself, I found myself relating to the main characters in ways I haven't seen in other media I've consumed. This also made it very difficult for me to read the book, as I felt personally invested in these characters, and the tension between them stressed me out. I think the author did a very great job at reflecting and highlighting the complexities of being a teenager, particularly one that doesn't entirely fit in, while also teaching great lessons about relationships, communication, and growing up in this world. I absolutely adored this book, though. I'll be thinking about it for a long time to come!

Content Warnings

ajankloss's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

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

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