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ameydireads'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent
kcmg710's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
qrschulte'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
4.0
Things I loved:
- a protagonist with a disability who is affected by their disability but not defined by it. So refreshing that she was a fully realized person
- the Rhen narrator. Honestly, the book might have been better with just him narrating the whole thing.
- believable reasoning for why someone from our world could ride a fucking horse
Things I did not love:
- How whiny the Harper narrator made her sound sometimes. It made it a lot less believable it was the same character between the narrators.
- The monster narration (so fucking creepy/scary). Could have done without that.
- The parts where it was said Harper was “not like other girls” *cue vomiting*
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Gun violence, and Infidelity
annorabrady'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
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Ableism
thatbookbitch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Self harm, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol
durrareadsstuff'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
4.5
First of all, I LOVE Brigid Kemmerer's writing style. It's utterly mind-blowing. I mean, just look at this:
Hope blooms in my chest anyway, a tiny bud giving way to the first light of spring, petals daring to open to reveal the colour inside.
In terms of the characters, I loved them all. I like how Brigid didn't make having cerebral palsy as Harper's dominating personality trait. I love how Harper acknowledges it and isn't ashamed of it and doesn't let it get in her away and she's just so strong and smart. And another thing I find sort of refreshing is that Harper isn't a "natural" badass you know? Like she's not like Inej or Aelin or Zoya who, when we read their stories, they're already "men-killers" and super skilled assassins, but in this case, Harper is still in her learning phase and she's so resilient and I just love that.
They believe her limp is the result of a war injury, but Harper is quick to correct them.
"I was born this way," she'll snap, "and I'm going to die this way, so teach me to work around it."
Also something worth noting - how both Rhen and Harper were scared to fall in love with each other cause neither of them could tell if it was for real. I MEAN--bye I'll be staring at the ceiling for the next few hours.
Some of the themes covered in this book are
- cerebral palsy
- abandonment (Harper's father)
- guilt
- grief
Some of the political intrigue was lost on me, but that's just a me-thing. I think this book was so close to perfection but for some reason I just can't give it a 5 star. But yeah, awesome read.
Moderate: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Sexual content