softwindflower'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
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Lesbophobia and Biphobia
crissi'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
3.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Gun violence
annorabrady'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Spoiler
the parental death. As someone who unexpectedly lost their mom in the last year, that definitely threw me back into the traumaOverall, I'm not sure how I feel about the story. I gave it a 3 because it was entertaining enough. But this isn't one I am going to revisit.
If you have emotional triggers, be aware and proceed with caution. This hits on a lot of things that could get people. I've done my best to list the ones I can remember.
As an aside, this book is not diverse. Beyond the romance and the ex, there's one closeted character who gets little page time and one gay character who gets an even smaller part. Then there's nothing. Everyone is white. If there aren't white characters, they're not described. In real life, Salem has close to 18% of their population identifying as latine and nearly 4% as black. Surely there could have been a friend, family member, or other recurring character who wasn't white.
Spoiler
After giving myself time to think about it, I genuinely don't understand the purpose of killing off her father beyond shock value. It didn't add anything to the story. She learned nothing new – he died while trying to give her a clue but didn't actually say anything – and her actions didn't change.It also would have made more sense narratively if he hasn't died, especially in terms of Victoria being left alone after getting her magic back.
Hannah would have saved Victoria regardless of her father's death. She was just as invested in the identity of the witch hunter before and after his death. And his death didn't add to any of her struggles or character development. He just died. And then he had a funeral. And she said she was upset about it.
Losing a parent changes you. Especially if it's a parent you have a good relationship with. It fundamentally changes so much of your life, your beliefs, and your priorities. And I saw none of that reflected in what Hannah did at the end of the book. Hannah was still the same character, she was just down a parent.
Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Toxic friendship
unicornofthesea'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
4.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Stalking, Car accident, Death, Lesbophobia, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Animal cruelty
sophie42's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Car accident, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Murder
Minor: Lesbophobia, Animal death, Alcohol, and Biphobia
ashleylorraine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Lesbophobia
verinvaldez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Many of the characters are stupid, including Hannah herself and every single responsible adult character that just let Hannah and Veronica wander about and do whatever they want despite the danger to their lives. Gemma's dialogue in particular got worse as the book went on, becoming extremely generic, Morgan was fine but it felt like she was just there to make the point of not all insert group of people only portrayed as being terrible up to this point are bad.
I will happily praise how this book deals with a teenager grieving though, it felt realistic, you can tell how raw Hannah is at that point and her actions are driven by those feelings.
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Biphobia, Cursing, and Stalking
gracegeeks's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
Minor: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
shockyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, and Car accident
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
laura007's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Spoiler
like when the MC gave Morgan flowers in the colors of the bi pride flag, not lying when I tell you I would immediately marry someone who would do this for meSpoiler
Like when we find out that Benton or what is his name is the Hunter, I actually suspected it in the scene with family portraits, but then I completely forgot about it and I was shocked to be rightGraphic: Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, and Death of parent