hedgehogreads_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racism, Abandonment, and Biphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Violence, Grief, Biphobia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
booktribe's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I enjoyed this a lot! My favorite part about this book is that it showed the hood from a very loving pov. There’s good and bad about the hood, but it really is a community and this book showed that.
And I really appreciated this quote in relation to the gang that runs the neighborhood: “They’re more like the Avengers of the hood. All they want to do is protect The Haven, but sometimes they make bad choices and fuck shit up. But so did Cap and Iron Man and Thor.” We never get the same grace for our bad decisions as white people do.
I loved Gio and his relationship with Theo, his little brother. I need to see more sibling relationships like this because it was so heartwarming. I also really loved Malik, Karina, Ayesha, and Ms. Diane. There were some amazing characters in this story! I didn’t feel a lot toward the love interest though. I thought he reacted very badly to a situation within the story and I just could never get over it🤷🏽♀️
Overall I just really enjoyed this book and I think it deserves way more hype!🙌🏽
And I really appreciated this quote in relation to the gang that runs the neighborhood: “They’re more like the Avengers of the hood. All they want to do is protect The Haven, but sometimes they make bad choices and fuck shit up. But so did Cap and Iron Man and Thor.” We never get the same grace for our bad decisions as white people do.
I loved Gio and his relationship with Theo, his little brother. I need to see more sibling relationships like this because it was so heartwarming. I also really loved Malik, Karina, Ayesha, and Ms. Diane. There were some amazing characters in this story! I didn’t feel a lot toward the love interest though. I thought he reacted very badly to a situation within the story and I just could never get over it🤷🏽♀️
Overall I just really enjoyed this book and I think it deserves way more hype!🙌🏽
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Sexual content and Suicide
zombiezami's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
I liked how earnest this was. This book addresses a lot of issues that teens face. However, as others have said, the prose and characterization weren't quite right, given that the characters were teens. I also don't think it was necessary to describe the sexual encounters between teenagers. Otherwise, I liked this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Biphobia, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Police brutality, and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Drug use, and Death of parent
Gangs, death of a siblingemilyeehaw's review
okay hmmmmm. this book was a perfectly decent YA novel following gio as he navigates his first real relationship with a guy and his complicated relationship with his absent mother. great, good, fabulous, love that for him. HOWEVER, the writing of this book was so?…..not good.
sometimes authors miss the mark and make their teen characters seem too old or mature in a pretentious way. this author wrote the teen perspective pretty well but wrote adults’ dialogue as if he had never met an adult person in his life. not to mention, sometimes the teens would also fall into this problem.
at one point gio says “i am a child of abandonment.” deeply sorry but reading that felt so unnatural and too formal for the situation. gio was feeling things so intensely and ranting to david and THAT is how he expresses it ????
there were sections where the author could have easily said something like “i agreed” or “i nodded” but instead would write “i responded ‘yes’ to him” or something to that effect. LIKE ??? why does that read so bizarrely. am i CRAZY?? and this kind of stuff happened throughout the ENTIRE book.
i also felt a little EH about the romance between gio and david, it was a little too “you are my WORLD” a little too quickly. young love i guess. david felt like any other guy…would have liked him to be a bit better developed.
it also felt like some things were wrapped up a little too fast. gio’s dad starts off as a harsh father with an alcohol use disorder and then by the end of it, it seems like that magically all went away? malik who was involved in the local street gang is suddenly no longer involved by the end of the book, with seemingly no consequences. just small details like that were taken care of in what felt like such a rushed way.
let me not be a complete downer here...i loved gio's relationship with his younger brother theo, as well as his dynamic with his stepmom. i liked that she was portrayed as a loving mother figure to him and there was no external conflict between him and her. i also liked that this book depicted the experience of a black, bisexual teenager. and addressed some of the unique challenges because of these identity intersections.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Suicide and Terminal illness
jamesflint's review
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Abandonment
Minor: Suicide and Alcoholism
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