wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Outing, Hate crime, Grief, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Mental illness, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, War, Medical content, Violence, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, and Infertility
some_random_person_hi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, and Racism
Minor: Police brutality, War, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Confinement
Underage drinking & underage smoking. (Not explicitly condemned in text.)kappafrog'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
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Misogyny, Outing, Lesbophobia, War, Xenophobia, Sexism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Gaslighting, Deportation, Blood, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Bullying, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, and Mental illness
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Lesbophobia, War, Xenophobia, Racism, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Deportation, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Confinement
Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy
Pedophilia warning is just in case, for an adult woman behaving flirtatiously towards the teenage protagonist.lolajh'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? No
5.0
Lily Hu. What a fantastic character. A Chinese American lesbian dealing with not just racism and lesbiphobia separately, but as overlapping things that create much more of an impact than one of these things by themselves. The portrayal of Lily’s lesbianism was portrayed a bit iffy in some parts, such as describing her intense focus on other girls’ bodies, but for the most part was described as more than skin-deep.
Lily’s love for Kath, a butch lesbian, was so bittersweet, and a lovely depiction of lesbian love. Their relationship transitions so seamlessly from friends to lovers, and despite the context they are in, neither have internalised homophobia about their lesbianism, and there are never any moments of shame between them after they show affection, which is something quite prominent in a lot of queer books done even in present context. Seeing Lily’s love for butches in this book where the butch is the love interest and femme as the mc was lovely, because I got to see Lily’s admiration for butch lesbians and for Kath. I can clearly see Lily as a femme, whilst it isn’t stated as clearly as Kath being butch, because of how she expresses her femininity in no way for a man, and because of her true love for butch lesbians. They are clearly Lily’s type; her love for butches was just so beautiful to see, and so different from traditionally feminine (but not femme) lesbian stories.
Spoiler
There are also sex scenes in this book, and the characters are both seventeen, which isn’t too young I guess, but because of how the scenes were portrayed in such a beautiful way, I still found them to be enjoyable. They’re my age, and it’s not unrealistic for people under the age of 18 to have sexual thoughts and interactions, so I do think it’s fine. I loved how intimate the scenes were portrayed; the consent and communication and them not at all being something directed for the male gaze was beautiful. It was less about lust and pleasure than just pure intimacy and love between the characters, something so pure I really admired.Graphic: Alcohol, Hate crime, Outing, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Deportation, Blood, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Gore, and Medical trauma
kashby's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Homophobia, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Blood, and Miscarriage
bectothebooks'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Racism, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Sexism, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
talonsontypewriters'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Misogyny, Outing, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and War
Minor: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship
Deportation and other immigration troubles, particularly relating to the post-WWII Red Scare. Setting-typical dated language. Mentions of teacher-student relationships in a film; brief suggestive advances on a teenager by an adult. Non-graphic sex between two seventeen-year-olds and short descriptions of sex scenes in pulp novels. Police raid on a gay bar. Underage drinking and smoking. Scene where a parent slaps a child. One scene featuring an air raid drill at school and discussion of atomic bombs.