bg_oseman_fan'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Hate crime, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Violence
Minor: Lesbophobia, Sexism, Xenophobia, Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, and Racial slurs
dayniw'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
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Racism, Police brutality, Mental illness, Homophobia, Grief, Death, Confinement, Child abuse, and Biphobia
kalireads13's review
- 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: Alcohol, Biphobia, Death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Hate crime, and Homophobia
julesadventurezone'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Drug use and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Biphobia, Vomit, and Stalking
offbrandclubsoda'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? It's complicated
4.5
- Queer history woven into the story [Note: I recently saw a review that said this was inaccurately represented, so I’ll have to look into this further]
- Found family
- All the side characters
- All the rep
- Sci-fi
- Sapphic spice
- Finally a Queer book that’s not about coming out
Spoiler
I was frustrated that the issue of child abuse and mental illness was never properly addressed. It seems like August’s childhood was played off as shitty but ultimately forgivable based on the way she reconnected with her mom at the end. In my opinion, August’s mother was severely neglectful. On the other hand, her mother’s behaviour seemed to obviously stem from mental illness, but it was never treated as such in the book.Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, and Racism
Minor: Car accident and Death
annir'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
4.75
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Homophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Police brutality
galacticvampire's review against another edition
2.0
The moments where the full-cast actually interacted, like in the parties, show the potential this had to be more involving and fun; but they were too far in between to make up for the repetitiveness of August and Jane "case solving" (pages and pages of the first dropping every single important thing in her life to annotate on the other's food preferences)
Spoiler
Some issues I had included: the fingering scene in a PACKED subway was completely unnecessary and is treated as something totally normal?August completely drops out of her life for months but is apparently a super genius who graduates quicker than she expected. On that topic, she worries about her student debt at least 5 times throughout the book but suddenly in the end she's almost done with it?
That scene where August says that "most people aren't like that anymore!!" about the racist-homophobic comment.... Felt really tone deaf and was never addressed again.
Graphic: Hate crime and Sexual content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Child abuse
Minor: Car accident
cindespair'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, and Homophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Racism, and Transphobia
hannahmayhere'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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia, Blood, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Vomit
Minor: Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality
Mentions of AIDS crisis