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arthur_ant18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, and Abortion
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Death of parent
Minor: Eating disorder
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The narration in this book as brilliantly delivered. The main character is jaded and sardonic, and is a lonely woman with a tendencies toward takeout food and alcoholism. Xe Sands narrates the character expressively and playfully, especially the parts where the characters are getting more and more inebriated. An interesting narrator; I might see if I can find other titles read by her.
As far as genre goes, the story is magic-school meets murder mystery, and a romantic twist, with the emphasis mostly on the crime solving stuff. As a result it slid off me a bit, because murder mystery things aren't really my preferred genre. I did like that there was diversity in the story. There were characters of different ages, and there were several queer (gay and pansexual) characters in this story, but the main character is a woman trysting with a man. Although the characters are ethnically diverse, their ethnicity is not focused on at all in the story.
The thing that probably drove me most to distraction was the slow pace. I generally love stories that dwell on the building of relationships between the characters, but the main theme of this book was the impossibility of being able to really bond with others if you aren't prepared to be honest with them, so the relationship building aspect felt shallow and unrewarding.
On a personal note, this book does deal with the aftermath of losing a mother to cancer. It probably says a lot about how much I have grieved and coped and healed that I didn't find this subject matter really upsetting, but rather, I felt like it represented real-life everyday tragedy and the failure of a family to cope because they couldn't share their feelings openly, and support each other in their loss.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, and Pedophilia
sarahmanuel3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse
smelborp's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror and Abortion
Minor: Bullying
persephonefoxx's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
sephypear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Abortion, and Death of parent
natc66'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
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, and Blood
thewoodlandbookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
b_lownds127'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
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Abortion
tessarudnick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment