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crusoe'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? Yes
3.5
I think the characters and their relationships with each other are very fun as well though Lucy especially suffers from some one-dimensionality, mostly because we aren't given an indepth backstory on most of the characters. (You could read the novellas Baxter is working on but really it should be a vital part of the story.)
Unfortunately, you can also easily tell Baxter is a first time author. The writing suffers from some growing pains in terms of its pacing, some cliche dialogue and a slight lack of personal style. Nevertheless, these are all things that can only get better over time and I'm excited to see what they'll write next.
So, in short, the story didn't blow me away as much as I'd hoped but I had a good time reading it!
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Torture
avaa1000's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Torture
hazelwood'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
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
juan_adhd_reading'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
My main complaint would be the pacing. Given that most of the book is set on finding the person that killed Arlo, I would expect more tension, action and a bit more mystery. I took longer than expected to finish this book because of the pacing. However, the last 50 -ish pages where extremely action packed and much more violent and dark that the rest of the book. I think I would have rather more of the book to be written this way.
Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
lattefairies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I think my favourite thing about this book other than the incredible platonic love portrayal and the relationships and queerness is the main character. We don't find such great depiction of an aro/ace character easily and I'm so grateful I got to. I love arlo with all my heart and I relate to him so much. Him and Ben did not deserve this and I will forever be MAD. My heart is still broken and I still can't move on T T
âYou donât have to explain,â she winked, âboys have needs.â My laugh came out delayed as my brain processed what she said. It was just a joke, nothing to get worked up over, but⌠thatâs not me. Iâm not like that. I didnât have needs.
Here are some of my favourite things about this book:
- how much queerness there is and how normalised it it.
- the diverse collection of characters.
- the lovely found family aspect.
- some of those plot twists were fire.
- I love that the vampire aspect was in fact a parasite, it made it more interesting.
- I love that we still have fantasy elements even though the vampire aspect turned out to be a parasite.
- I LOVE BEN AND CASPER they have my heart I already miss them.
- I love arlo with all my heart he's my baby if anyone lays a finger on him I'm rioting đ
- MARIANNE!!! not elaborating on that. You'd understand once you read :).
A note: this is something I personally enjoyed and loved because I relate to arlo so much but it might be iffy to some people. We spend a lot of time in arlos head. We see his thoughts, observations, feelings, and emotions all throughout and I loved it a lot. But I also thought its very fitting considering what happens with the pov's later in the book.
I also want to point out that I VERY MUCH appreciate how arlos anxiety (and eyesight lol) were not cured after he turned and I think the way his anxiety manifested differently afterwards in a very subtle way, when it comes to his heart, was genius.
All in all. I cannot wait for book two đ
â
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
lonelyghostsclub'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, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Stalking
Moderate: Body horror, Self harm, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual assault