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jadeyfish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Mental illness
Minor: Rape
jaydarjoker'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? No
4.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
beetree'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
3.5
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
elkboy23'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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
anoelle896'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, and Grief
gen_wolfhailstorm'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? It's complicated
5.0
Where do I begin? I give this all the stars!
My heart soared. My heart raced. My heart plummeted. My heart broke. My heart healed, all in a continuous circuit.
I loved this story so much.
Ox and Joe were so beautiful to read about. I was uncomfortable about this all beginning at such a young age, but nothing inappropriate happened when it shouldn't have.
The connections between the characters were so beautifully written and I don't even know how to explain it... it was all candy canes and pinecones. Epic and awesome!
A 5 out of 5 stars 100%!
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence
joygarcialim'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
The book was so disjointed in so many parts that I didn’t know what happened between one part of the writing and other parts. There was basically no flow. Ox and Joe are walking red flags, even outside of their inappropriate relationship, they are immature, whiney and possessive. The dialogues between characters were so similar that they all seemed to have the same personality- one-dimensional. The book came across as it was written by a 12 year old with a Twilight obsession, with no understanding of character-building or world-building. Maybe except for the sex scenes, I would have been completely convinced this was written by a kid. The writing was that juvenile. I don’t understand why every time Ox has an emotion, he has to write out a soliloquy about them. I’m not talking artistic, literary soliloquies- they were very whiney and he thinks he’s suffered the most or something. And it’s repeatedly used. By other characters too. There was a lot of repetitiveness. It was a long book not because a lot happened, but because there was a lot of repetition and Klune used a new line for every sentence he wrote in some parts.
The sex scenes were probably the best part of the writing tbh. They were incredibly detailed and less whiney than the other parts- all 15+ pages of it. It wasn’t great, I got second-hand embarrassment from it. It didn’t need to be that long.
TJ Klune, if this book is a reflection of your reality, please get professional help from a therapist and a psychiatrist.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Abandonment
sarrie'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
4.25
To get my one concern out of the way, there is a bit of an odd age gap between our main character Ox and Joe. Joe was very, very young when he met Ox and felt the call of his fated mate in him. Ox had no idea till he was into his twenties. For the most part I felt like it was handled fairly well, you could tell Mr. Klune was extremely careful with it and I ended up happy with the way it was handled but I think some will still find it uncomfortable.
Besides that one concern I loved so much of this. It had me laughing out loud and then tense nearly crying at times. The emotional vibrancy here was powerful. The perspective of Ox, a simple guy, really cut things into the basics and the conflicts in the book felt realistic and believable. Even seeing the path the story was going to take I was heartbroken when those things happened. There are a lot of violence and even two deaths on page. I'll list what I remember of the triggers below, as it can be intense.
I'd highly recommend this for fans of romance, paranormal and fantasy especially. I am most definitely purchasing my own hardcover (budget be damned) as this is a story I can and will reread to annotate and enjoy.
TWs:
Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Death of parent, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
foreverinastory'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
5.0
Rep: Bisexual male MC, MC's father is an alcoholic, achillean (gay coded) love interest with PTSD, asexual male side character, gay/achillean male side characters, Latine/x male side character
CWs: Graphic: Abandonment, alcohol consumption, blood, death, death of parents, grief, gun violence, injury/injury detail, mental illness (anxiety), murder, sexual content (one scene very graphic, several instances of sexual innuendo), violence, vomit. Moderate: body horror, child abuse/torture, kidnapping, alcoholism, emotional abuse (parents/child), suicidal thoughts. Minor: animal death.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death