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kassidyreads'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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault and Alcohol
gay101's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder
winifara's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sophiesmallhands'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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Trafficking
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
bree_h_reads'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? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Minor: Trafficking and Pandemic/Epidemic
lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence
alyxbeau'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
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, and Violence
luminescent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Toxic relationship
frantically'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
There's so many characters in this book who would've been better suited as a YA-saviour, there's Ness' best friend, Priya, whose biggest dream is fighting the Nightmares or the charming vampire Cy, who Ness is starting to like more and more. But we're stuck with Ness — and it's great!
It was so fun seeing her work around trying to do everything on her own. She makes other people work for her, put her info out into the world without risking too much herself. She's isolated, doesn't want anymore friends than she already has and where there's danger, she's already running away from it.
What I also loved was that all this "not like other people" business didn't at all turn into "not like other girls", which we often see with FMCs.
The world Schaeffer has creted is intriguing and offers enough potential for so many more books. The Nightmares, how they are created and why, all gets more and more mysterious and I'm so ready to see where this story takes us next!
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Trafficking and Alcohol
lilifane'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
3.0
But objectively, there are some flaws. Mainly the writing, I guess, it's not the strongest. It's on the simple side with lots of repetitions, not only certain recurring scenes and thoughts (which can be explained with the protagonist's mental state) but also words and phrases (which is a little more annoying).
My favorite part of the book was probably the anxiety representation. The protagonist has an anxiety disorder, and I think the author does a good job of showing how this can affect so many aspects of your every day life. How part of your brain knows there is probably no danger, but your body is still in hide/flight mode, and you can't do anything about it. But then maybe, in this specific world, the anxiety is actually warranted? Because there are random monster attacks, gang shootouts, people turning into literal monsters without warning, corruption so bad that you can end up in jail just because you didn't have enough money to bribe a random police officer passing you by. But then again, everyone just accepting this as normal and going about their day worked for me. I was enjoying the humor and lightheartedness of the narrative, they just took away from the atmosphere of the setting.
There were also some dialogues that felt a little forced and out of place. Yes, I do think that discussions about how media romanticizes toxic relationships is important, I just don't think the way it's done here is ideal. I really liked most of the dialogues and bonding moments between the characters, though. Was really rooting for Cy's and Ness' friendship development. And the discussion about how lonely and isolated you can feel because of trauma, trust issues and anxiety hit a little too close to home.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Police brutality and Trafficking