ladythana's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Terminal illness, Murder, Grief, and Child death
madmantha's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
I loved this book.
That being said… I don’t think it’s for everyone. It was very interesting re-reading it in 2022.
That being said… I don’t think it’s for everyone. It was very interesting re-reading it in 2022.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
Minor: Mental illness, Outing, Acephobia/Arophobia, Biphobia, Car accident, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic friendship, War, Abandonment, Ableism, Colonisation, Cursing, and Emotional abuse
… so what ever happened in Untitled Patel..?sowm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I first started this book in middle school. I couldn't finish it then, no matter how hard I tried, because I found the book unbearable. I typically didn't DNF books back then, but I did this one. From that moment on, it haunted me. One book that I couldn't read. A book I couldn't finish. Every now and then, I would see it at a library, or a bookstore, and I would be reminded of it, and the fact that I couldn't finish reading it.
Anyways, I checked the book out from my library again. Did I enjoy the book? Not really. I still found the protagonist to be a little annoying, I found her interactions with Imogen to be annoying as well. The shifting between the Darcy chapters and the Afterworld chapters really got me sometimes, although it ended up becoming much less of an issue. Maybe the reason I was finally able to finish the book was because I was finally the same age as Darcy. Either way, I was really glad to read the book. I think another thing that helped me finish the book this time around was that I didn't need to worry about the exposition or lack thereof, especially for the beginning, since I had read a good 3/4 of the way into it previously. When rereading that portion, I was mostly just reminding myself of what had already happened which was definitely better than reading it for the first time and being quite confused.
Positives: I finally understood the way Darcy's character developed throughout the book. Seeing how the edits Darcy was talking about were actually reflected in the book was definitely cool. Seeing the way that Darcy was talking about having to rewrite the ending, and the way we got that ending after more of the book focusing on Darcy herself was a nice touch and I enjoyed that. These are mostly superficial things.
Cons: I didn't really like the characters. I found their interactions to be annoying, for lack of a better word. The whole Imogen and Darcy relationship was a bit cringeworthy, and made me feel weird, sometimes. A decent part of the book was about telling us what Darcy's character development was and naturally, that turned me off the book a little. Additionally, not a big fan of the entire Lizzie/Yamaraj storyline. I think overall, in the book, everyone fell in love way too fast. Imogen's character didn't have much to it.
I also don't really want to go in to everything that went wrong with Westerfeld trying to showcase exactly how being a young, South Asian lesbian works with family dynamics and whatnot, but, um, it's not great. I don't have any particularly strong feelings about the whole Yamaraj-god-of-death thing, because let's be real, Hindu religion has never been particularly respected, and theres is a bit of a precedence with this, however, I do believe that he could've made Darcy white and nothing would've changed. There is an inherent difference to living as a POC, and while it may not affect every decision you make, it's a conscious thing that you always have in the back of your mind, and it would've been interesting to see at least some of that.
Anyways, I checked the book out from my library again. Did I enjoy the book? Not really. I still found the protagonist to be a little annoying, I found her interactions with Imogen to be annoying as well. The shifting between the Darcy chapters and the Afterworld chapters really got me sometimes, although it ended up becoming much less of an issue. Maybe the reason I was finally able to finish the book was because I was finally the same age as Darcy. Either way, I was really glad to read the book. I think another thing that helped me finish the book this time around was that I didn't need to worry about the exposition or lack thereof, especially for the beginning, since I had read a good 3/4 of the way into it previously. When rereading that portion, I was mostly just reminding myself of what had already happened which was definitely better than reading it for the first time and being quite confused.
Positives: I finally understood the way Darcy's character developed throughout the book. Seeing how the edits Darcy was talking about were actually reflected in the book was definitely cool. Seeing the way that Darcy was talking about having to rewrite the ending, and the way we got that ending after more of the book focusing on Darcy herself was a nice touch and I enjoyed that. These are mostly superficial things.
Cons: I didn't really like the characters. I found their interactions to be annoying, for lack of a better word. The whole Imogen and Darcy relationship was a bit cringeworthy, and made me feel weird, sometimes. A decent part of the book was about telling us what Darcy's character development was and naturally, that turned me off the book a little. Additionally, not a big fan of the entire Lizzie/Yamaraj storyline. I think overall, in the book, everyone fell in love way too fast. Imogen's character didn't have much to it.
I also don't really want to go in to everything that went wrong with Westerfeld trying to showcase exactly how being a young, South Asian lesbian works with family dynamics and whatnot, but, um, it's not great. I don't have any particularly strong feelings about the whole Yamaraj-god-of-death thing, because let's be real, Hindu religion has never been particularly respected, and theres is a bit of a precedence with this, however, I do believe that he could've made Darcy white and nothing would've changed. There is an inherent difference to living as a POC, and while it may not affect every decision you make, it's a conscious thing that you always have in the back of your mind, and it would've been interesting to see at least some of that.
Spoiler
The big blowout relationship scene between Imogen and Darcy, while highlighting Darcy's immaturity, felt like something almost out of Riverdale. Additionally, while we were told that Darcy matured by herself, and we got to see a little of that in her book, we were mostly told that Darcy matured, which Imogen somehow immediately recognized within their 5 minute interaction at the end of the book. I'm personally of the opinion that they really shouldn't have gotten together in the first place, and definitely shouldn't have dated after "breaking up". The point where Darcy finds out that her mom's friend didn't actually die felt a little bit weird, and kind of just thrown in. I think that could've been a bigger point in the book, but also makes me question whether Darcy actually knows anything about her parents and about where they grew up. Additionally, a little bit of a personal thing, but Darcy's spending habits were really annoying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Medical content
Minor: Chronic illness
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