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booksngrannies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
claire_0_0's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
green_amaryllis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Medical content, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
There are a large number of Harry Potter references all throughout the book.rainbowpridepin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
lchambers394'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
3.0
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, and Medical content
rachelfayreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism
caitlink'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? It's complicated
2.75
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual content
eimearz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The story comprises of two teenage boys, Ben and Arthur, who meet in a post office and try to find each other again. This is not a spoiler, it happens on the third page. The boys very quickly decide that meeting each other was Fate, despite the fact that their initial interaction comprised only of some minor banter. Both of them, specifically Arthur, try to track each other down. This ‘tracking down’ would be legally defined as ‘stalking.’ Arthur picks up an address label that Ben tore from a box, in the hope that it is his address.
The writing style is nothing special, if distinctly YA, and it is incredibly insistent on making cultural references the centerpiece. None of the characters are especially notable Potterheads, yet Harry Potter is mentioned at least 20 times (I counted) with a frequency which is both abnormal and taken as a given. A decent few chapters are dedicated to Arthur getting Ben into Hamilton, which is thus praised as God’s gift to musicals, with no thematic or narrative relevance for the length at which it is spoken about. Additionally, there are more miscellaneous complaints - the women in the story are all presented as mere aids to getting Ben and Arthur together, with the most egregious example being Samantha, who offers to track Arthur down for free despite only knowing Ben for about 20 minutes at that point, brushed off with a quick ‘this sounds cute, so I don’t mind doing unpaid labor for you.’ Bisexuality is mentioned a scant few times, and it is only ever treated as ‘half-straight.’ The description of minor characters of color is odd, often specifying their races where a white person’s wouldn’t be, from the phrasing of ‘a beautiful black girl comes over and kisses him’, to the bizarre assertion that a random person who Ben sees is Mexican, something which is presumably intuited by looking at the person and seeing if they can ‘clock’ him as anything.
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
The depiction of women, POC, and bisexual people is suspect, in that the writing does not treat them well, but this is never addressed.pining's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Racism
matheo's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Medical content, and Alcohol