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the_agog_nog'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
4.25
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicide
sierrabowers's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
voidkid'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
4.0
In a lot of ways, it was a good book. No, more than that, it was an incredible book. The conversations about trauma and overcoming them were so empowering and wonderful. The characters were incredibly real and relatable. The pop culture references were fun and silly and offered a nice amount of silliness to combat the darkness.
This book did a lot for me too. It helped me confront my own feelings about the abusive relationships I’ve lived through. It’s story of letting go of trauma and the real and gentle way traumatized people were portrayed hit me incredibly hard.
I just wish the story itself had been more gentle. The horror is not what I am talking about. The visceral body horror, the despair of being trapped in loops, that was wonderful. That is not what I am saying.
It’s just that for a book that’s focused so much on healing and moving past trauma, some scenes were completely unnecessary and horrifically triggering. Content warning for self harm and suicide in the paragraph below.
There was a scene where the main character graphically cuts herself and ends up dying because of it. It is played as a moment of shock and horror and genuinely made me feel sick. I didn’t expect that sort of thing at all. While the author content warns for self harm, there are earlier scenes in the book where the characters lightly cut their hands in order to activate a kind of blood magic. I assumed that was what the author was warning against. I could be wrong, but if I remember correctly there was not a content warning against suicide. What happened was most certainly suicide. It is not a scene that is ever brought up again, nor does it have any narrative significance in my opinion. It simply feels like it is there to shock the audience and self harm and suicide should never be used that way.
I almost rated this book a lot lower because of that. I couldn’t, though. Because I was trapped in my own maze while reading this, and this book was what helped me to break the loop and leave it.
I just wish it would have been kinder about it.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Suicide
ollieworm'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: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Confinement
dananana's review
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Toxic friendship