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emilo's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
it was a shame that the blurb was so misleading as paige only really got intrested in her revenge and that became a central plot line by the end. the main theme of the book bullying in secondary school was accurate, like the author had obviously lived through it herself. i finished high school only a few weeks ago and this book really reminded me of being in s2 and s1. i liked paige as a character a lot and it was interesting that she talked to alexa a lot. its funny that this book would have been considered to have sci fi elements if it’d been published 20 yrs ago. however i thought that elijah and her romance was unneeded. it would’ve been more effective if they had a really strong friendship. not everything has to be a romance ffs!! their romance added nothing to the plot and would have had the same impact as a strong friendship. finally as with many of holly bourne’s books she is marketed mainly as a feminist author, and her books have feminism as a major theme with her protagonists’ growing up and having more autonomy over their lives. however through her books she only writes about the white, cisgender, straight female experience and to market her feminism as anything but is a lie. other experiences of other people are never realised or even really briefly mentioned. this book has been her ‘best’ so far with one white lesbian side character and one black side character who’s main impact on the story is how they interact with the main white, straight character as well as the oppression and bullying they face as minority groups. transgender people and the trans experience only came up once in this book as a slur. for a author that believes so much in her own liberation from the patriarchy and other oppressive systems it’s high time she critically engaged with her own work and tried harder.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Racism, Self harm, Sexism, and Transphobia
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