Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - A Scatter of Light

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

34 reviews

victoriousbookworm's review

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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olivia_piepmeier's review

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hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.75

This is the fourth book by Lo I’ve read. I’m not sure what it is exactly about her writing that keeps me coming back - perhaps I know she can deliver a story and characters that feel real. At any rate, I enjoyed Last Night… and was curious about what a follow up could be like. For awhile I was reading to find the connection, but I quickly became invested in the story. Aria’s snafu felt relatable, in that 18-year-old way. Who wouldn’t want an artsy grandma with a little house on the California coast to spend the summer at? How the hell would you make friends in that situation? Oh. I see. How will this play out? How is this related to Lily? And then I couldn’t turn away. I definitely have a lot of questions but I respect leaving some stuff out. A sweet coming out story with bits of family issues mixed in.

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al3xa's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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maddiereadswords's review

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4.5

So here's the thing: this book is really heavy and messy and there's very little about it that was actively pleasant to read, but it was so beautifully written and so palpably real that I kind of can't help but love it anyway. I think it also helps that most of this book is set in 2013 and while I'm a little younger than Aria, the descriptions of some of the outfits and the songs and the atmosphere of it really took me back to that era of finding myself as a teenager in the early 2010s. Maybe Aria's not really an aspirational protagonist, and maybe some of her choices (and those of the adults around her!!) aren't always the best, but it felt so raw and real that I fell like it's going to stick with me for a while. (Also there's really not much of Lily and Kath in here, but what is there is so sweet and it did have me a little emotional, I can't lie.)

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pipsqueaky's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I didn’t like this book as much as its predecessor, Last Night at the Telegraph Club - mainly because I couldn’t sympathize with or relate as much to the protagonist. She’s quite immature and selfish, and I don’t think she grows & changes very much by the end of the book.

She claims to be in love with Steph, but she doesn’t actually care about what Steph is going through in her current relationship, or have any respect for Steph’s actual feelings? She just wants Steph to drop everything else in her life and make out with her all the time. That’s not love, that’s an uninformed crush, and it was annoying to read.

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mangofraiche's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad slow-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

4.25

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paperquilt's review

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fast-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

4.0

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ellivallow's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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novella42's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I know part of my frustration with this book is that I didn't notice it's not a romance novel, like Last Night at the Telegraph Club. I went into it expecting something else, and so I spent a lot of time angry and confused, and didn't see what it was trying to do until the very end.

There were some beautiful lines. I think I most appreciated her relationship with her grandmother, a wonderful character who definitely stole the show for me.

I may try to revise this review after I get some distance from it.

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taylorunger's review

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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