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courtnoodles's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement
traa'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
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and War
Moderate: Fatphobia and Outing
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
th18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
- Fast pace and seemed more YA than anything, too many modern references for me personally but each to their own.
- This also felt like the second book of the series at the start there was just so much unexplained things thrown in.
- Whilst the book did deal with modern topics such as race and trans rights, I wish it also talked a bit about harmful beauty standards due to Elle literally hiding her true self from her husband.
- I feel like the amount of swear words was also unnneeded.
- I love the idea of queer witches and empowered modern women but I feel like the talk about adulthood was very bleak
- The writing and worldbuilding also felt quite underdeveloped which was disappointing
- Finally the use of the d slur was completely unneeded
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Abortion, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
axel_p's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Outing
Minor: Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Pregnancy, and War
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
5.0
This book really scared me. It took me longer than I would usually take to read what is quite an accessibly written, witchy, adult fantasy, because of the feelings it churned up. It is a horrifyingly close political parallel to transphobic rhetoric, and reading this so close to the recent Melbourne TERF-Nazi rally was particularly frightening. It felt very reminiscent of Helena’s actions throughout the book and at times I found it difficult to read on because things just felt hopeless.
But beneath this confronting political rhetoric is the heart of queer stories everywhere: the family that makes fighting worth it. The family we’re fighting for.
Now ummm if someone could like…give me the sequel?
——
ARE YOU KIDDING ME that cliffhanger?!?
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Transphobia, and Violence
kateyhb'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
4.25
I really liked most of the main characters, and this book is bursting with queer allyship (despite the excruciating bits of TERF garbage we are forced to read). If you’re a left-leaning queer/ally who likes fantasy, this will be an enjoyable read for you.
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Racism, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Physical abuse
amy_reading_23'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
annelihghh'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: Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
haylzno'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
Low/urban fantasy: set in our world but add in some ✨magic✨
I loved the array of creatures they sprinkled throughout and the realistic integration of witches and warlocks with the "mundanes".
Great queer rep. Lots of bad ass witches.
There are quite a few POVs but I think it served the plot well. You're able to get a better sense of the characters thanks to the POVs.
Massive cliff hanger right at the end! I can't wait for the next book.
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Murder