zombiezami's review against another edition
3.0
However, by the end, I felt it was too tropey, too focused on romance, and relied too much on deus ex machina
Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Cursing, and Child death
Moderate: War, Torture, Racism, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content
zoepagereader's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: War, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Racism, Blood, Body horror, and Classism
bookishmillennial'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? N/A
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Racism, and War
jstizwein'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
4.0
Minor: Sexual content, Drug abuse, and Violence
blackcatkai's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
decent beginning, meh middle, slow ending. essentially, it was a fun time through the first half of the book, then a time travel aspect was added at some point that took me right out of it. this is wholly a me-not-you situation for the story. i do not like time travel the majority of the time and the paradoxes that often come with it just ruin things for me. if some light time travel might be your thing but also you dont want a whole book to revolve around it, then you may enjoy this more than i did.
Graphic: Racism, Genocide, Colonisation, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Alcoholism, and Violence
tahsintries's review against another edition
3.5
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, and Confinement
Minor: Racism and Classism
caelinsullivan's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Colonisation
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping
caitlink's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: War and Violence
Minor: Racism
noellelovesbooks's review
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings: racism, alcoholism, violence, captivity, anxiety, confinement, murder, hanging, and graphic injury.
I feel like it’s becoming a trend but…here is another book I bought, almost a year ago, and finally read…and it was AMAZING!
I’ll be honest, when I first started reading this I was a little worried I wasn’t going to get into it. Luckily, I always like to read at least 25% of a book before I decide whether or not to DNF. Slow start, or at least that’s how I felt, but it really started picking up around 18% [I want to say] and took me on a journey. Reading through this book became heavy at times and I needed to take breaks here and there, for my mental health, to listen to cheerful music or watch something comedic.
Janelle, or Ellie, a black, demi-ace, plus-size teen was easy for me to relate to as was her love of books and music. Media forms, like books and music, have always had a way of changing how I feel, no matter how upset/angry/sad I am a good book or a killer playlist can have me smiling, and laughing, in no time. Personally, I don’t even want to imagine a world lacking music and books that allow us to escape reality, and sometimes help us work through our own reality.
Throughout the book, there are tons of pop culture references which I loved! From classic quotes to song titles to books mentions some just giving us breadcrumbs to guess what they are…I loved it all. I bought a physical copy of this book before I ended my BoTM subscription [I really have too many physical books on my tbr to be on any subscriptions *insert nervous laughter here*] that I plan to go through and highlight all the different references. I love the idea of piecing together a playlist with all the songs they mention throughout the story. I decided to read my Kindle version [yes I’m guilty of being multiple formats before reading] mostly so I could highlight and add my favorite quotes to Goodreads easily.
This story, although overall sad [what with the alien takeover and banning of music/art/books/etc], was filled with a silver lining whether you think of all the pop culture references or the deep connection Ellie and M0Rr1S make over them. I can definitely see myself re-reading this book. I’m also very excited to get my hands on a copy of “The Kindred” as, although I couldn’t find anything online saying so, I think there may be a connection between the two books.
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism
reading_between_the_trees's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved the pacing and the characters had some serious flaws that were balanced out by redeeming actions and dire circumstances. That made for an intriguing development of the central relationship. There was ace rep within the relationship too!
The best part of the book though was the secret library! It exactly what would happen if a bookworm went through an alien invasion, and I loved that! It was also such a creative way to have an intertextual conversation with other great books, namely The Hate U Give.
I definitely recommend this one, especially if you're looking for something fast-paced to pull you out of a reading slump.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Racism, Murder, Confinement, Violence, and Vomit