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discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
- 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
The queer representation was good. I empathized with Wyatt—his self-loathing, his anger, his tendency to lash out instead of facing his emotions, and his selfishness—even when he frustrated me SO MUCH.
I did like a lot of the secondary characters as well, but overall it seemed like the author was so focused on examining Wyatt’s internal struggles that not enough focus was spent on making any of the other characters very nuanced or multi-dimensional. (Tessa’s arc is, I think, meant to involve growth and development, but it comes across more as a clumsy and sudden about face.)
I also didn’t think the author did a good enough job of making us understand why Emyr found a marriage to Wyatt so necessary that he was willing to force him into it under penalty of death. It just didn’t feel fleshed out enough to read as believable, which gave the entire premise of the story a sort-of unmoored quality. (Maybe multiple POVs would have helped here?)
Plus I felt like a lot of the plot development got squished into the last 20% or so of the book, making it read very much like an attempt to quickly tie up lose ends and insert twists where they didn’t feel necessarily natural just to set up the events of the second book. (The big “aha!” moment at the end when the villain is confronted felt very similar to the end of a Scooby-Doo episode: “and I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”)
Finally, a lot about the way witches in this story are born to (and subsequently rejected by) Fae families seemed to be an allegory for the queer experience, especially when at one point, that similarity is explicitly pointed out on page by Wyatt.
You have the Fae (conservative) businesses refusing service to the witches, then the guard (police) siding with the Fae when they protest/incite violence against witches using language most readers would immediately associate with white supremacists.
But at the same time, this allegory breaks apart when you consider this magical realm is also supposed to exist WITHIN the current, human world (and that there also exist Fae queer people). If an allegory is meant to be a fictional representation of a real-world people, institution, or concept, how can that allegory exist in a fictional story where the very real thing it’s meant to be representing ALSO exists? So maybe it’s not meant to be allegory at all, I don’t know, but I found my confusion over it very distracting as I was reading.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
Minor: Infertility
tiredreader51'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
4.25
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Colonisation
kaisbooknook'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
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War
zoepagereader'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
lyd41'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
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Moderate: Transphobia, Vomit, and Police brutality
Minor: Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Stalking, and Pregnancy
karcitis'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
aexileigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and War
greyys_libraryy'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, and Transphobia
Minor: Gore, Infertility, and Sexual assault
katebrownreads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Transphobia
theblerdnewsletter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Gore, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism