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corsetedfeminist's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
I must be honest. I checked out this book from Libby because it had a rabbit-man villain, and I am a FNAF fan with a weakness for murder rabbits.
I was genuinely surprised at how delightful this book was. It grabbed me from the first line and held me in a death grip throughout.
Our main character, Dane is a sarcastic, irreverent gay kid who has a good heart and an iron spine but does a lot of stupid stuff on account of being a teenager.
The love interest, EJ, is bi, and managed to win my heart despite not having much page time, comparably, and his sassy little side hidden under a lot of nerves is precious.
Dane’s family is a delight. His mom and aunt give Mamma Mia meets Addams family vibes, and his cousin Hannah is that strong willed kid in black that this story needed, and the unfailing support that Dane needed.
The coven he ends up in, The Reds, is somehow endearing despite being incredibly annoying at times, and I think is a surprisingly profound discussion of why cliques form, humanizing the mean girls in a way that I’ve never seen without letting them get away with the bad choices they make.
This leaves us with Aloysius. My only complaint now is that I do not have a sassy, deeply loyal raccoon familiar who can read my mind. Life is not fair, and I have been robbed.
Our villain was incredibly creepy, and really unnerving. I don’t know how to describe him without spoilers, but he was really well written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Transphobia
miranda_graham's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- 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
3.0
Overall, a decent (cheesy) teen fantasy rom com deal. We love a book that has openly gay, bi, trans characters. Thank you for the inclusivity! My issues with the book are:
1) So…did our main character summon a ghost to kill his cousin? It is a bit unclear still in the ending.
2) Dear cousin still died being a bit of a bigot. But learned better now he was dead? Is this really the plot point we needed? Couldn’t he have died thinking he was in the wrong for painting a slur on Dane’s head and simply died trying to help save the family from the ghost?
3) I feel like we could have gotten more backstory for the ghost “Rabbit Skins” to understand why he agreed to a deal with the devil. It would have even been more satisfying if when vanquished, he said “Thank you” to Dane or something to signify that he regretted the deal he made.
4) Maybe just a me thing, but I don’t understand how Dane and E.J. were taking their relationship so seriously so fast? And the whole E.J. being a werewolf thing felt forced. I’m not sure it was really necessary as a plot point. Yet it does open the door to future books in this universe (also with the side quest of searching for a lost trans-brother) so I can understand why the author may have included this. May have better served this book if E.J. was seriously considered as a suspect for the murders before the actual killer was revealed.
On the whole, this was good if you’re in a mood for cheesy teen love with some monster stuff sprinkled in-between.
2) Dear cousin still died being a bit of a bigot. But learned better now he was dead? Is this really the plot point we needed? Couldn’t he have died thinking he was in the wrong for painting a slur on Dane’s head and simply died trying to help save the family from the ghost?
3) I feel like we could have gotten more backstory for the ghost “Rabbit Skins” to understand why he agreed to a deal with the devil. It would have even been more satisfying if when vanquished, he said “Thank you” to Dane or something to signify that he regretted the deal he made.
4) Maybe just a me thing, but I don’t understand how Dane and E.J. were taking their relationship so seriously so fast? And the whole E.J. being a werewolf thing felt forced. I’m not sure it was really necessary as a plot point. Yet it does open the door to future books in this universe (also with the side quest of searching for a lost trans-brother) so I can understand why the author may have included this. May have better served this book if E.J. was seriously considered as a suspect for the murders before the actual killer was revealed.
On the whole, this was good if you’re in a mood for cheesy teen love with some monster stuff sprinkled in-between.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Gore and Abandonment
tinytrashqueen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
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