cass_lit's review against another edition
4.5
I can honestly say that I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did. I’ve read Henry’s adult romance but this was my first of her earlier works — and I got the same feelings from this as I did from those! YA hasn’t been as easy for me lately, but these characters felt so real and genuine. I wanted to protect them, but I was also happy to sit back and watch them figure the hard stuff out on their own (but with each other!). There was so much good content on family and friendship and grief and growing pains. Plus, being from Ohio, I loved the setting!
I had a little trouble telling 3 of the 6 apart from each other in the beginning, but by the end they all felt much more fleshed out. Officially prepared to read all of Henry’s backlog now.
I had a little trouble telling 3 of the 6 apart from each other in the beginning, but by the end they all felt much more fleshed out. Officially prepared to read all of Henry’s backlog now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
nabecker13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Death, Abandonment, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Cancer
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Okay SO, I feel the need to preface this by saying that the narration of the audiobook had a lot to do with my lower rating. If I had read a physical copy of this book, I believe I would've enjoyed it a great deal more. In the future, I plan to do just that in order to see if it will change my opinion. Typically, I do read the physical books for SFF, but when I saw this as a free audiobook on Audible, I decided to go for it since it was already on my TBR. That was my own mistake, truthfully. It just made the story slightly unpleasant. The villains sounded laughable and I couldn't take them seriously, and the main character was breathy and almost airhead-ish, so needless to say, not a great listening experience. If you plan to pick this up, do yourself a favor and actually read it with your eyes if you have the ability to.
That being said, WOW, this is a massive leap from Emily Henry's contemporary romances! I added this book to my TBR in the first place because, in her author interviews and online events, she often mentions how this is the novel she's the proudest of. That immediately made me want to read it because I love seeing which books are an author's pride and joy.
I knew it would be different, because DUH, it's a sci-fi story reminiscent of Stranger Things, but I don't think I was prepared for the level of alien intensity. I mean, it's a whole "took over your body and gave you powers" kind of thing!
The plot as a whole was kind of interesting to me, but the more I read, the more I wanted to just know how it would end. It seemed like a really slow pace and I was expecting slightly more action from it. Towards the end, it delivered, for sure, but there was way more emphasis on the characters than the plot, which was unexpected.
Again, I would like to read this book in the future as a physical copy to see if maybe it grips me a little more. I'm hoping it was just the narration that threw me off, because I did see Henry's writing skills shine through, I just couldn't appreciate them in the way I wanted to.
That being said, WOW, this is a massive leap from Emily Henry's contemporary romances! I added this book to my TBR in the first place because, in her author interviews and online events, she often mentions how this is the novel she's the proudest of. That immediately made me want to read it because I love seeing which books are an author's pride and joy.
I knew it would be different, because DUH, it's a sci-fi story reminiscent of Stranger Things, but I don't think I was prepared for the level of alien intensity. I mean, it's a whole "took over your body and gave you powers" kind of thing!
The plot as a whole was kind of interesting to me, but the more I read, the more I wanted to just know how it would end. It seemed like a really slow pace and I was expecting slightly more action from it. Towards the end, it delivered, for sure, but there was way more emphasis on the characters than the plot, which was unexpected.
Again, I would like to read this book in the future as a physical copy to see if maybe it grips me a little more. I'm hoping it was just the narration that threw me off, because I did see Henry's writing skills shine through, I just couldn't appreciate them in the way I wanted to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
boneloose's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Kidnapping, and Vomit
Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Medical content
Minor: Forced institutionalization
stephonashelf's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Friendship, mystery, and serious Stranger Things vibes wrapped up in this lovely YA novel!
I loved the sci-fi elements! It was so fun. There was a lot of adventure, unknown happenings, and kids trying to solve a mystery which I enjoyed a lot!
The banter/their friendships was one of the best parts of the novel! The sci-fi elements weren’t necessarily explained, so if you like a conclusion like that then you might not be satisfied with the ending. I personally didn’t mind that we never really knew why/how certain things were happening, and I think it added to the overall mystery of the book. This book is also the perfect summer cozy read IMO!
I loved the sci-fi elements! It was so fun. There was a lot of adventure, unknown happenings, and kids trying to solve a mystery which I enjoyed a lot!
The banter/their friendships was one of the best parts of the novel! The sci-fi elements weren’t necessarily explained, so if you like a conclusion like that then you might not be satisfied with the ending. I personally didn’t mind that we never really knew why/how certain things were happening, and I think it added to the overall mystery of the book. This book is also the perfect summer cozy read IMO!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
soppysays's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i have such mixed feelings
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Kidnapping
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