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shlymiller's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Police brutality
Minor: Suicide attempt and Death of parent
booksthatburn's review
It's very slow to start and I'm having trouble getting into it. I generally have trouble with YA contemporary and this feels more YA contemporary/fantasy than I'd like.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Murder
Minor: Self harm
TW for Harry Potter reference.invioletshadows's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
I went into this book expecting to love it, and there WAS a lot to love. This book blends the narrative of magic and empowerment of Black women in such a beautiful and poignant way. This book is about the silencing, dehumanization and demonization of Black women. Effie and Tavia’s relationship is so strong and complex and I loved seeing their mutual, fierce support of each other. The narrative occasionally felt a bit heavy handed, but the depiction and analysis of systemic racism, microagressions, and police brutality was masterfully written and blended with the magical aspects of the story.
That being said, I want to talk about the depiction of Sign Language and disability in this book, that almost entirely ruined the reading experience for me. I’m talking about this because I went into this book after hearing so many good things, and while I think the book deserves the praise in some aspects, I want people to think more critically about how disability is represented in books like this. Intersectionality is important, and it’s hard to praise diversity in one aspect when another aspect was handled poorly.
The biggest issue that I want people to be aware of: Tavia fakes a disability to hide her identity as a siren. She claims she has a disease that affects her vocal chords and causes her to go nonverbal as a way to cover up the times when she feels the need to stay silent to prevent herself from compelling someone with her siren voice. 1) Faking a disability is never acceptable under any circumstances. Disabled people (particularly those with invisible disabilities) already suffer from enough suspicion without fuel like this being added to the fire. 2) Choosing not to speak is different from going nonverbal. There are plenty of reasons people can go nonverbal, or be selectively or completely mute. Refusing to speak because speaking would cause you to compel someone is NOT the same as going nonverbal.
Before I continue, I’d like to thank @deafreader and @slangwrites for talking through the sign representation in this book with me! I appreciate your feedback and valuable discussions to help me better word the ways this book could have represented sign language and signing better! Several times throughout the book, the narration will say some variation of “When I speak sign”, or “She can speak sign”, etc. Signing is NOT a spoken language, and therefore this statement is unnecessary and incorrect. There are several times throughout the book where the phrase is said more accurately as “when i sign”, so the inconsistencies were very frustrating. This is something that could have been fixed with another edit pass, or having a d/Deaf or a disabled person who signs consult on this aspect of the book. When aspects of a disability are thrown into a book like this, it feels as though it was done merely for diversity kudos, without any real thought or care.
That being said, I want to talk about the depiction of Sign Language and disability in this book, that almost entirely ruined the reading experience for me. I’m talking about this because I went into this book after hearing so many good things, and while I think the book deserves the praise in some aspects, I want people to think more critically about how disability is represented in books like this. Intersectionality is important, and it’s hard to praise diversity in one aspect when another aspect was handled poorly.
The biggest issue that I want people to be aware of: Tavia fakes a disability to hide her identity as a siren. She claims she has a disease that affects her vocal chords and causes her to go nonverbal as a way to cover up the times when she feels the need to stay silent to prevent herself from compelling someone with her siren voice. 1) Faking a disability is never acceptable under any circumstances. Disabled people (particularly those with invisible disabilities) already suffer from enough suspicion without fuel like this being added to the fire. 2) Choosing not to speak is different from going nonverbal. There are plenty of reasons people can go nonverbal, or be selectively or completely mute. Refusing to speak because speaking would cause you to compel someone is NOT the same as going nonverbal.
Before I continue, I’d like to thank @deafreader and @slangwrites for talking through the sign representation in this book with me! I appreciate your feedback and valuable discussions to help me better word the ways this book could have represented sign language and signing better! Several times throughout the book, the narration will say some variation of “When I speak sign”, or “She can speak sign”, etc. Signing is NOT a spoken language, and therefore this statement is unnecessary and incorrect. There are several times throughout the book where the phrase is said more accurately as “when i sign”, so the inconsistencies were very frustrating. This is something that could have been fixed with another edit pass, or having a d/Deaf or a disabled person who signs consult on this aspect of the book. When aspects of a disability are thrown into a book like this, it feels as though it was done merely for diversity kudos, without any real thought or care.
I want to clarify that I think this was an honest mistake, done without any intent of malice or harm to readers. But as a disabled person, it still hurts when disabilities are treated with so little thought. This goes doubly so when it’s a particularly popular book that has loads of reviews where no one seems to notice, or address the aspects of the book that are harmful. Please, authors and readers, take disability representation into account. Don’t leave us out of your discussions, your critical thinking, your activism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Murder
alsoapples's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting
Minor: Eating disorder
typedtruths's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
quick thoughts:
of all the books to be disappointed by, i really didn't think this would be the one.
PROS:
• the sisterhood. i'm a sucker for family in books, and Effie & Tavia's sisterly relationship was a big focus of this story. also, the emphasis on bond > blood was perfect.
• the premise & themes. the idea of using mythological creatures as a metaphor for misogynoir worked so well, especially how siren powers were used to justify Black women being silenced. it did a good job of exploring sexism & racism, including a really powerful protest scene.
• urban fantasy elements. as much as i adore a good werewolf, fae & vampire urban fantasy, the fact we had gargoyles, elokos & sirens instead added a different layer.
CONS:
• the plot. the clunky, disjointed way scenes jumped around made the dozens of subplots knot in an impossible tangle. i could barely follow what the hell was happening at any given point. i read the last 50 pages twice and i still couldn't explain the ending.
• the world-building. while i adored the bare bones of the premise, the execution was lacking. i don't usually mind being thrown into a world and slowly piecing the world together from context, but when there is no context or any background, it makes it a little difficult to follow.
• the writing. my personal preference for writing styles sways more toward the lush, descriptive side. the pacing was so rapid, there was no time to build the landscapes or develop the characters in the way i personally prefer. i live for those slower moments so the fact i couldn't picture anything pulled me out of the story. i also hated how the characters explained their jokes in parenthesis.
• the characters. if the chapters weren't labelled, i don't think i could have told effie & tavia apart. their voices weren't distinctive.
- the secondary characters. i can't lie, i liked wallace but i don't know why. we know nothing about him! or any of the characters really. the cast fell flat.
there is no denying this is an important read, however, so i recommend reading some #ownvoices reviews. you can check out leelynn @ sometimes leelynn reads's review here and sammie @ the bookwyrm's den's review here.
▷ Representation: Tavia (mc) & Effie (mc) Black; Wallace (li) Latinx; Black & BIPOC scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
of all the books to be disappointed by, i really didn't think this would be the one.
PROS:
• the sisterhood. i'm a sucker for family in books, and Effie & Tavia's sisterly relationship was a big focus of this story. also, the emphasis on bond > blood was perfect.
• the premise & themes. the idea of using mythological creatures as a metaphor for misogynoir worked so well, especially how siren powers were used to justify Black women being silenced. it did a good job of exploring sexism & racism, including a really powerful protest scene.
• urban fantasy elements. as much as i adore a good werewolf, fae & vampire urban fantasy, the fact we had gargoyles, elokos & sirens instead added a different layer.
CONS:
• the plot. the clunky, disjointed way scenes jumped around made the dozens of subplots knot in an impossible tangle. i could barely follow what the hell was happening at any given point. i read the last 50 pages twice and i still couldn't explain the ending.
• the world-building. while i adored the bare bones of the premise, the execution was lacking. i don't usually mind being thrown into a world and slowly piecing the world together from context, but when there is no context or any background, it makes it a little difficult to follow.
• the writing. my personal preference for writing styles sways more toward the lush, descriptive side. the pacing was so rapid, there was no time to build the landscapes or develop the characters in the way i personally prefer. i live for those slower moments so the fact i couldn't picture anything pulled me out of the story. i also hated how the characters explained their jokes in parenthesis.
• the characters. if the chapters weren't labelled, i don't think i could have told effie & tavia apart. their voices weren't distinctive.
- the secondary characters. i can't lie, i liked wallace but i don't know why. we know nothing about him! or any of the characters really. the cast fell flat.
there is no denying this is an important read, however, so i recommend reading some #ownvoices reviews. you can check out leelynn @ sometimes leelynn reads's review here and sammie @ the bookwyrm's den's review here.
▷ Representation: Tavia (mc) & Effie (mc) Black; Wallace (li) Latinx; Black & BIPOC scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Suicide
Moderate: Bullying, Self harm, and Police brutality
Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping
➸ Trigger warnings forbabayagaofficial's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, and Police brutality
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Minor: Fatphobia and Kidnapping
anne311's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, and Grief