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av0universe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Lo que me encanta de este libro es el desarrollo de personaje de la protagonista, Effy. Pasa de ser una "niña llorona y asustada" a una mujer empoderada con sus miedos y angustias (no me gusta ponerlo de esta manera, pero creo que se entiende la idea). Ese viaje que sigue Effy para encontrarse a sí misma y sobre todo aceptarse tal como y finalmente verse como Preston la ve, fuerte, inteligente y valiente. También adoro el mundo en el que se desarrolla la trama, me parece muy rico y creo que la autora lo conoce perfectamente (aspiro a lo mismo como future autore).
La única razón por la que no es 5 estrellas es precisamente porque a veces, especialmente al inicio del libro que no entendía ni mierdas, Effy me parecía demasiado redundante en sus miedos, que aunque reales y bienfundados, me desconcertaba bastante. Ahora, creo que es extremadamente realista, todo el mundo tiene miedos y me parece maravilloso que la autora haya elegido una persona así como protagonista, no lo cambiaría por nada.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and War
theresamothinmyroom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexism, Blood, Car accident, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Medical content and Alcohol
cadimy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.25
I get what the author was trying to do with the heavy misogyny and how it affects the MC deeply, so I did appreciate that at times. Unfortunately I had no connection to any of the characters- they fell so flat and there was no chemistry to be found.
Also, little to no backstory on the fairy king?? Why was he hanging around? He was apparently “stuck” on the estate because of the trees and berries everywhere but that doesn’t explain how he escaped to almost steal the MC? She said she saw him all of the time, but how? Not much story building, and the backstory of the north vs south seemed unnecessary other than to sprinkle in some racism for the characters.
I listened to the audiobook on a road trip, and the fact that I finished it gives it 2 stars, maybe 2.5. I was kind of hoping for a dark ending where her love interest was over taken by the fairy king.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry
probablytoolate's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
reddeddy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
For most of the book I was unsure how reliable Effy was as a narrator but I think think that might reflect more on me than it does on the book. It really is beautifully written, I just have one issue: Everyone mentions how smart and brave Effy is and of course, yes, she is, but whyyyy did you not go talk to the secretive and reclusive widow of your favorite author when you had the chance? Like you literally did everything including destruction and theft of property and nearly dying in a drowned basement instead of trying to communicate with people that are there and have not explicitly told you to fuck off yet. I was just waiting for them to get to that for nearly half the book so that was incredibly frustrating.
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
writingandwhimsy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
daydaybookbay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Ava Reid writes beautiful phrases and sprinkles them throughout the chapters. Her artistic metaphors rest on the boundry of remaining applicable. The wording captures the reader, but any further, the intention would be lost. She uses imagery to convey emotion and the characters' mindsets.
The characters fell a bit flat for me. Each character was one dimensional and served only one purpose throughout the book. Preston exists to be an on-paper protective love interest. Effy is constantly reminding you how misogyny, sexism, and her beauty overshadow her genius. Every other character means nothing to me.
Effy's low-key racist. Her xenophobia is front and center, but we are
overlooking that? Why?! Time and time again, she shows her
academic rivalry" is really just her prejudice against Argantians.
I wanted more from the fairy-tale.
Is Effy a reliable narrator? Honestly, I'm left thinking the fantasy aspect is really part of Effy's imagination. She experienced great trauma from her mother, and her obsession with Myrddin's novel plays a role in her coping. I'm left to feel she really has mental health issues, and maybe the pink pills are good for her.
I wish there had been more development in the setting and the characters. The countries, the North and South, the school, the house, the land... I could never picture them. The only thing I was able to imagine was the door to the basement. There is this whole world Reid introduced in this book, but we never get a clear picture of what it's like.
I really wanted to love this book. Part of me feels I would have enjoyed it more as a physical book because I would get bored listening to it. I never got the feeling of being immersed in the story.
I love the moody vibes Reid is able to create. The feel and the way she conveys emotion is beautiful. I wish the attention to the setting had matched. I want to visualize where the characters are and how the North/South/Bottom Hundred look and compare to each other. I wanted to pull more from the text.
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
anntharai'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
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol
justinekorson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
1. Racism??? Effie "othered" Preston SO HARD. (I was listening to the audio book so I'm unsure if the narrator was saying Preston was Argatian or Argentinean. The reason I'm unsure as well is because the language that Preston spoke did not sound like Spanish but I don't know all the dialects of it so I could be wrong.) Regardless, she talked about Preston and his ethnicity USING ALL OF HIS ETHNICITY'S STEREOTYPES against him. In fact, everyone in the novel did so and when other people spoke about Preston like that Effie would get offended AS IF SHE HADN'T ALSO THOUGHT THE SAME THINGS. Preston was the only decent character in this novel and I hated the way Effie talked about him and how she said that she "always wanted him". No you didn't girl. You romanticized him so hard you forgot that you were being unfairly judgmental of a boy you barely know.
2. Effie is such a damsel in distress and is not, in her own words, a "survivor". She went through some truly awful things from men in power but in that final scene where she defeats the Fairy King and then when she attempts to save Preston from drowning... she's not doing any of the actual work. The mirror she holds up does all the work in my opinion and then when she's trying to save Preston it's not even HER that does it. She has help from (I don't know how to spell her name) the wife. She was going to GIVE UP! Tell me how that is survivalist behavior? She was going to let herself and Preston drown if the wife hadn't come along. Which is why I don't think she had much of a character ARC at all. Even at the end when she, with the help of Preston, confronts the Dean of the university, I don't believe her when she decides to argue with him. It all falls so flat for me.
3.WHY WERE THERE NO TRIGGER WARNINGS IN THIS BOOK. It talks HEAVILY about the abuse women suffer at the hands of men AND YET THERE WAS NO TRIGGER WARNINGS PAGE AT THE BEGINNING?!?! Make it make sense. I had no idea the book would talk this much about SA and if I had I could've prepared myself for that kind of mindset. As it stands, I struggled to get into this story and at some points I stopped paying attention.
I thought this book would be a five but unfortunately I was mistaken. I don't think I'm going to read anything else by this author if this story was such a disappointment.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism