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eddiehits'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
5.0
Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
corpseparty'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
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
schausjk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
However, I found most of the characters that weren't the main trio to be really one dimensional. It's one thing when it's just a random side characters that get that treatment, but even characters that are super relevant to the plot (like Benji's parents) felt like they were really boiled down to just one or maaaybe two traits in a way that didn't feel believable and took away from my general immersion. It gets worse when those really flat side characters are meant to be different types of representation. It's good in theory, but in practice it felt very tokenizing.
I also would have appreciated more worldbuilding on what more of the world looks like. If the main headquarters of the church is in a random city in Pennsylvania and they can't even stamp out a group of starving kids that have been systematically killing off their people, what would the rest of the world look like? I find it very hard to believe that the Flood decimated everywhere but the place it was created.
The last thing that bothered me was the sense of time. I know it's set like 15-20 years in the future, but it all reads very much like it's from 2020-2021. A lot of the same discourse within the queer community still happening despite the literal apocalypse, a lot of the same slang, and of course the obvious comparison to the ongoing pandemic. It really could have benefitted from either being set in the nearer future or from more development on how the community may have changed.
Ultimately, this book was an awesome premise, but wound up being mostly just disappointing.
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Medical trauma, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Colonisation, and Classism
remimicha'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
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail