lreeve's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, War, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Grief, Death, Deadnaming, Violence, Gore, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Cursing and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol, Cannibalism, and Sexual content
magnan1mouse'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
I found it to be well-written and while I HATED Nick at some points (for his actions, not how the character was made),
Spoiler
I'm glad he was good in the end.Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, Gore, Death, Violence, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Vomit, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, War, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Medical content
Minor: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, and Child death
foiblesandfiction's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved it. I also didn't necessarily like it. And maybe those are two different things, just like we are able to love people without liking them, which makes sense for me because my mind tends to personify all books. Books have feelings, too.
This story sank it's teeth right into my religious trauma, and the resonating ache from that is why I love this story so. The character names, the Bible verses, the rules and judgements and negative self-talk. I felt, I feel, all of that. It's all very twisty and knotted up in my chest so I won't be able to say very much more than that, to be honest. Too raw, too messy.
Forget about the body horror, my issue was the Christians lol
Sorry Christians! Kind of.
Why I disconnected from this story was due to the writing itself. It's gorgeous and it's also a lot. It doesn't read like the first-person point of view of a sixteen year old kid. Unfortunately, this kept taking me out of the story.
Recommended for fans of Ava Reid. If, like me, you found yourself highlighting entire paragraphs of The Wolf and the Woodsman, or disturbingly delighted at the cannibalistic horror of Juniper & Thorn, you'll find something to enjoy in this young adult horror novel as well.
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Outing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Biphobia, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Racism, Child abuse, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny
vulgarboy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The handling of queer folks, POC, and neurodivergent folks was pretty spot on. Some things were a bit blunt, such as an autistic character having a stim toy being acknowledged for the first time, followed by an immediate "he's autistic" exxplanation. Neopronouns were used, which I haven't seen before. There's a clear amount of care with these characters, but it fell short a few times. Benji's deadname being in the book doesn't sit right with me (a transmasc person), as well as it being used approximately eight times. Yikes.
All in all, an excessive amount of vomit and gore aside (both of them happening Constantly), I didn't hate my experience. This story sure did happen.
Graphic: Homophobia, Ableism, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Violence, Body horror, Vomit, Child abuse, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Racism, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cannibalism
touchegiantsquid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Hate crime, Body horror, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Religious bigotry, Torture, War, Blood, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and Toxic relationship
spooderman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Genocide, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Hate crime, Grief, Medical trauma, Deadnaming, Gore, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Deportation, Misogyny, Body horror, Mental illness, Gun violence, Self harm, Transphobia, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, War, Ableism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Vomit, Torture, Mass/school shootings, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Stalking, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Slavery, and Cannibalism
Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual content, Rape, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Eating disorder, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt
mothman19'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
Graphic: Torture, Transphobia, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Sexism, Self harm, Terminal illness, Body horror, Bullying, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Genocide, Medical content, Abandonment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, Vomit, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion, and Sexual content
Minor: Eating disorder, Pregnancy, and Excrement
st_ender's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So yeah this is for:
-kids who tried to use the pandemic as an excuse to skip mass
-young adults who got out of a religious family and still didn't quite process it
-people with religious trauma who are still religious
-people who equate health with morality and get therapy for it
-eldest daughters of any genders
Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Genocide, Grief, Medical content, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
I listed the tws and thought this needs a little disclaimer. The book is very heavy on violence and body horror. Religious bigotry, genocide, and illness are main themes. BUT I think for the list like this the themes are handled very well- at no point I felt like it's just there for shock value or to add to a list of terrible things. If you are unsure you can DM me, I'm trying to keep this spoiler free.