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planetshelf's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Hearing women complain that Dean doesn’t seem “authentically male” is bizarre and — dare I say — sexist.* By complaining that the main character isn’t [stereotypically] male enough, these complaint compilers have contradicted the message in their statement of “Not all girls are motherly.” My message to them: Not every guy will think the same way, just like not every girl will act the way the ones in this book do.
*Definition: sex•ist
/ˈseksist/
adjective
adjective: sexist
1. characterized by or showing prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.
Typically. TYPICALLY. (in case you forgot) ONLY typically!
I’m no expert on the weird science going on in this book, and I have no clue what the inside of a boy’s brain “should” look like. What I do know is that I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
P.S. If you still want to know more about the chemical compound, there are versions of this book that contain an extra short story called “Dress Your Marines in White” that adds a little more atmosphere, if not information, to its background.
*Definition: sex•ist
/ˈseksist/
adjective
adjective: sexist
1. characterized by or showing prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.
Typically. TYPICALLY. (in case you forgot) ONLY typically!
I’m no expert on the weird science going on in this book, and I have no clue what the inside of a boy’s brain “should” look like. What I do know is that I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
P.S. If you still want to know more about the chemical compound, there are versions of this book that contain an extra short story called “Dress Your Marines in White” that adds a little more atmosphere, if not information, to its background.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Gore, Pedophilia, Excrement, Grief, and Pregnancy
magnoliabloomfield's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
So the safest place to start without spoiling anything would be with trigger warnings and boy are there some doozies.
Triggers:
Underage drinking
Drug use made worse by it being minors
A promiscuous 13 year old child
Pedophilia
Pregnancy
Black characters described as chocolate and mocha colored. Actually, I felt like a lot of ethnic and racial descriptions were a bit off but as a super white girl I couldn’t say exactly how with any knowledge or confidence in the accuracy.
As a 30 year old that likes reading YA to AVOID “spicy” scenes I must say that it was uncomfortable to read some scenes. I hate to use this phrase but most people get the idea, it’s very Wattpad, or it could also be described as a CW show too.
The writing style got to me a few times, especially using the same word multiple times in the same sentence. I mean, yeah, don’t resort to calling eyes orbs just to avoid repeating the same word, but there’s just something off about a sentence like
“A monster hailstone hit Josie on the forehead and a big pink gash opened on her dark forehead.”
Oddly enough it was the adults that seemed the most unrealistic, especially the ones on the news describing the events. Maybe I’m numb from the pandemic but I just wasn’t buying the way the kids were affected by the chemicals.
Also I don’t buy sobbing over a dead body one second and then making out the next.
Triggers:
Underage drinking
Drug use made worse by it being minors
A promiscuous 13 year old child
Pedophilia
Pregnancy
Black characters described as chocolate and mocha colored. Actually, I felt like a lot of ethnic and racial descriptions were a bit off but as a super white girl I couldn’t say exactly how with any knowledge or confidence in the accuracy.
As a 30 year old that likes reading YA to AVOID “spicy” scenes I must say that it was uncomfortable to read some scenes. I hate to use this phrase but most people get the idea, it’s very Wattpad, or it could also be described as a CW show too.
The writing style got to me a few times, especially using the same word multiple times in the same sentence. I mean, yeah, don’t resort to calling eyes orbs just to avoid repeating the same word, but there’s just something off about a sentence like
“A monster hailstone hit Josie on the forehead and a big pink gash opened on her dark forehead.”
Oddly enough it was the adults that seemed the most unrealistic, especially the ones on the news describing the events. Maybe I’m numb from the pandemic but I just wasn’t buying the way the kids were affected by the chemicals.
Also I don’t buy sobbing over a dead body one second and then making out the next.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol