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hellavaral's review
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
arsenelouppain's review
- 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
So I was shocked to see that it had been accused of perpetuating racism. I am Black, and--while I know Blackness is not a monolith--I did not pick up on any bigoted undertones.
TL;DR: I'm Black and didn't think it was racist, but I'm just one person. Read it and draw your own conclusions.
Putting aside the fact that all of the negative press I personally saw about the book was from people that hadn't read it, and had only heard about it secondhand:
The main issue people cited was that the royal twins, Aramis and Galen, were mixed, and Ranka was white. Somehow, the conclusion had been drawn that the twins were oppressing white witches, like Ranka. But this is not the case.
It is pointed out multiple times that the witches are a diverse group comprised of various races. It is also mentioned that witches have committed wrongs against humans, and neither of the two groups was fully in control of the situation.
As an aside,
While it is at first presented to Ranka that Galen is hell-bent on killing all witches, this turns out to be a lie told by Ranka's mentor. After meeting Galen, Ranka discovers the truth: Galen is a kind, gentle boy that has been made into a figurehead, much like herself.
If anything, this is less like reverse-racism and more like a white person who was raised in a racist environment meeting a Black person for the first time and realizing everything they'd been taught was a lie. Which is still an issue, but a separate one.
I feel like Mix's intentions were to create diverse characters in a fantasy story where the color of your skin has no impact on your societal standing. Personally, I like to enjoy stories like this on occasion; there's enough racism in the real world, and it's nice to get a break.
As a queer Black woman, I was also estatic to see someone like me reflected in the story. I know this is not a universal experience, but I would rather see imperfect representation than none at all because white people are too afraid of backlash to even include people like me as a one-off side character.
But this is just my opinion. And my thoughts do not invalidate the opinions of other Black people who actually read this book and have legitimate criticisms.
I urge anyone who is on the fence about reading The Ones We Burn because of any controversey to just give it a chance, and pass your own judgement.
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic
monicajaylynn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War
kassidyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Physical abuse
omnisyncd's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content
linnea1801'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
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
immovabletype'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? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Medical content and Alcohol
strawberrytheauthor'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
5.0
I am only left with one question? How is the Sunra line going to continue if both siblings are gay? I mean yeah adoption but that could be a lot of political unrest.
This book in three words is Queer, Zombie, Betrayal. It has enemies, to friends, to lovers, to enemies, to lovers and just classic friends to lovers.
The writing is so wonderful my only critique is it uses the phrase “bile rose to her throat” and others like that far too many times. Other than that it had so many fabulous quotes that just hit you to your core, my favorite being, “You useless lesbian.”
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, and Medical content
Minor: Cannibalism
theferret'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
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
oliverreeds'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? Yes
SPOILERS BELOW
now lets get onto the antisemitism which i consider the more blatant issue. so there is a character who is reptilian in nature — hidden actually as his reptilian self — who left his reptilian homeland because they were creating biological warfare inoculations against the lower class of witches… now. wow. thats already a lot to process. and to those of you who know things abt conspiracy theories, you know that they all basically end in antisemitism including the “secret reptilians are ruling the government” shabang. so. this subplot feels like a CRAZY blatant dog whistle to these conspiracy theories. now you might be saying well HE was a good character who changed for the better, and i would say yes. hes quite well-rounded but. the implication in this book is that he betrayed ALL of his people. that he is the ONLY one who realized what they were doing was wrong. which to me,,, again makes me think hmm. that seems a little coded.
SPOILERS ENDED
now lets say this wasnt all on purpose. how should we react? well, first off we need to hold the author accountable. say hey, this is kinda fucked will you make a statement my guy? but MORE importantly we need to call out the publishing firm for a) not hiring sensitivity readers or b) not hiring very good sensitivity readers.
aside from that crazy shit this book was a good debut. the characters were compelling, the plot was interesting, but the message was insanely heavy handed which was a little frustrating.
anyway, rating zero stars for racist shit and antisemitic nonsense that could have easily been avoided
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism