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ohlookshinee's review against another edition
1.0
Reread this series because I remembered enjoying it as a teen and had always wanted to go back and finish it. When something's stuck in my head like that I tend to see it through even if it's extremely disappointing as this was. I don't know how I missed all the misogyny, racism, homophobia, ableism (criminal overuse of the R slur), tokenization of Native culture, etc etc in high school but that's essentially all the books contain. They got slightly better when they started shifting to POVs outside of the insufferable MC but that wasn't enough to save it. After the first few books I found great reviews online that helped me get through them. I also started reading them as fast as I could to get it over with. I'll be glad to never read a word of them again lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Fatphobia
transcendent's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.5
i didnt realise how much i adore these trashy late 2000s vampire (vampyre in this case) books until i picked this up at the library at work and read 60 odd pages in like 20 minutes.
Zoey Redbird is genuinely one of the best Mary Sues to ever exist because she is simultaneously a girlboss AND a girlfailure and honestly that's so real for being the most overpowered vampyre fledgling ever.
cant wait to start betrayed to get back into the groove of reading!
Zoey Redbird is genuinely one of the best Mary Sues to ever exist because she is simultaneously a girlboss AND a girlfailure and honestly that's so real for being the most overpowered vampyre fledgling ever.
cant wait to start betrayed to get back into the groove of reading!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Blood, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Ableism
lori_h's review against another edition
3.0
I wouldn't be happy for a teenager to read this - it hasn't aged well. It's littered with fatfobia and the R word. It stereotypes gay men and people with a country accent. But as someone who's nearly 40, I lived through the era already so can ignore those bits. It's lighthearted fluff to read before going to sleep.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Cultural appropriation
pawprinted's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
heads up that this book has the r-slur in it and some fatphobia. my rating is about the rest of the book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Fatphobia
_rowantree_'s review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
anilein's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
sneakyhobbit's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
This book is bad, and I can (and will) list all of the reasons why.
1. The writing style. The main characte of Zoey is meant to be 16 but she thinks and acts like a 13 year old. Quotes which show the writing style can be seen further below.
2. Slut shaming and pick-me girl energy. Zoey is constantly insulting other women. This is meant to be a book for pre-teen and early teen girls and provides them with a terrible role model. Quotes showing this are below:
"Kind of like those girls who have sex with everyone and they've that they're not going to get an STD that eats your brain and stuff. Well, we'll see in ten years, won't we?"
"Yes, I was aware of the whole oral sex this... Of course there are girls who think it's 'cool' to give guys head. Uh, they're wrong. Those of us with functioning brains know that it is not cool to be used like that." ~ so many things wrong with this quote
"Actually, she reminded me of a young version of Sarah Jessica Parker (who I don't like, by the by - she's just so... so... annoying and unnaturally perky)."
"Well, I guess being the next Nicole Kidman wouldn't be bad (not that I plan on marrying and then divorcing a manic short guy)" ~ might as well shame short guys while we're at it
- "I lined [my eyes] with a smoky black shadow that had little sparkly flecks of silver in it. Not heavily like those loser girls who think that plastering on black eye-liner makes them look cool. Yeah, right. They look like scary raccoons."
3. The LGBT+ (or lack thereof) representation. There's only one LGBT character and he's the embodiment of a gay stereotype.
4. She's an OP mary-sue She's been a fledging for maybe a few weeks and has already learnt that she has power over 5 elements, likes the taste of blood, gets extra tattoos, and has a coloured in forehead tattoo. This is book 1 of 8. I can't even imagine how much worse it will get.
5. The r****d slur is used multiple times
The only reason is got 1 star instead of 0 was because the concept of the world was kind of interesting. It doesn't make up for all of the other issues though.
1. The writing style. The main characte of Zoey is meant to be 16 but she thinks and acts like a 13 year old. Quotes which show the writing style can be seen further below.
2. Slut shaming and pick-me girl energy. Zoey is constantly insulting other women. This is meant to be a book for pre-teen and early teen girls and provides them with a terrible role model. Quotes showing this are below:
"Kind of like those girls who have sex with everyone and they've that they're not going to get an STD that eats your brain and stuff. Well, we'll see in ten years, won't we?"
"Yes, I was aware of the whole oral sex this... Of course there are girls who think it's 'cool' to give guys head. Uh, they're wrong. Those of us with functioning brains know that it is not cool to be used like that." ~ so many things wrong with this quote
"Actually, she reminded me of a young version of Sarah Jessica Parker (who I don't like, by the by - she's just so... so... annoying and unnaturally perky)."
"Well, I guess being the next Nicole Kidman wouldn't be bad (not that I plan on marrying and then divorcing a manic short guy)" ~ might as well shame short guys while we're at it
- "I lined [my eyes] with a smoky black shadow that had little sparkly flecks of silver in it. Not heavily like those loser girls who think that plastering on black eye-liner makes them look cool. Yeah, right. They look like scary raccoons."
3. The LGBT+ (or lack thereof) representation. There's only one LGBT character and he's the embodiment of a gay stereotype.
4. She's an OP mary-sue
5. The r****d slur is used multiple times
The only reason is got 1 star instead of 0 was because the concept of the world was kind of interesting. It doesn't make up for all of the other issues though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
The book uses the r****d slur multiple timesindiawilliamsrakestraw's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Blood, and Alcohol
honeybakedreads's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The last time I read this series was back when it came out and I have grown significantly as a human since then. I came back to read it again and actually finish the series to see how it ends and it's been painfully difficult to continue. So many slurs, so much slut shaming. It's very early 2000's southern highschool. And I say that as someone currently living in the city where the series takes place. I definitely understand why the series isn't recommended by many.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Homophobia, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Classism