paperbrownies's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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? No
3.0
- lgbtqiap+, ya, sci-fi, dystopian, alien invasion, star crossed lovers trope, books and music, queer normative society, your favourite musician with thirteen grammys can be an alien, just saying
- f|m
- bi/pan oriented demiace fat mc with anxiety, possibly demiace love interest, bi/pan sc, nonbinary sc using they/them pronouns
cw: colonization, alcoholism, confinement, execution, vomitting, gun violence, blood, hp references, racism, panic attack, genocide
- f|m
- bi/pan oriented demiace fat mc with anxiety, possibly demiace love interest, bi/pan sc, nonbinary sc using they/them pronouns
cw: colonization, alcoholism, confinement, execution, vomitting, gun violence, blood, hp references, racism, panic attack, genocide
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, and Racism
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
reading_between_the_trees's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
For me, this was right book, right time. I needed an escape, and a fast-paced space alien invasion with spot-on social commentary and my favorite trope: fictional music so good you with it were real, was perfect.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Racism, Murder, Confinement, Violence, and Vomit
booksthatburn's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Two years after the invasion and near-total genocide of humanity, and alien and a human bond over the power of music and a love of stories while they try to save the people who are left.
I love Ellie and I like Morris, their relationship takes enough time to deepen for it to not feel like trauma bonding, which is really important given the massive power gap when he's part of the alien invasion and she's trying to survive. This does a lot of great things well that I haven't seen much in YA, from frank and non-judgmental discussions of whether they've had other partners, to actually addressing how dressing for the apocalypse results in some physically uncomfortable and very hodge-podge outfits.
This has lot of really great characterization. Ellie repeatedly uses a calming technique to try and avoid panic attacks in stressful situations, or try and calm down when one is starting. I loved this narrative choice, because it conveys how anxious she is without constantly relaying her anxious thoughts. Switching between two narrators helps keep the lying from getting too stressful, especially when there are things that Morris doesn’t feel like he can tell Ellie, or Ellie isn’t ready to trust Morris with. They’re reliable narrators as individuals, but not always to each other, especially in part two, but part of the point of the story is how they work though that and learn to trust each other as they get closer. Part One felt a bit uneven with a lot of infodumps and a lot of explanations. It was trying to handle a lot of world-building really quickly, and it did a pretty good job, it just wasn’t to my personal tastes. Part Two had more room to maneuver now that the backstory was set up, and got into the first phase of the adventure. It also features a different kind of tension between the protagonists. Part Three focuses on the way their relationship is changing, and Part Four is about a final confrontation and what happens next. I liked the second half better than the first, but the plot arc is solid and I'm pretty happy with how it turns out.
I think I would love this book rather than just like it if I cared more about music. The story is extremely up front about being a love/save-the-planet adventure about connecting through music and books, and I loved the book bits and didn't care about the music bits, but they seemed to be well done. It's definitely a me thing, not anything wrong with the story. If you're a bit meh about music and connecting with people through it, then this won't be the book for you. If you're reading this review and slightly aghast that anyone wouldn't care about music, then you'll probably love this.
I love Ellie and I like Morris, their relationship takes enough time to deepen for it to not feel like trauma bonding, which is really important given the massive power gap when he's part of the alien invasion and she's trying to survive. This does a lot of great things well that I haven't seen much in YA, from frank and non-judgmental discussions of whether they've had other partners, to actually addressing how dressing for the apocalypse results in some physically uncomfortable and very hodge-podge outfits.
This has lot of really great characterization. Ellie repeatedly uses a calming technique to try and avoid panic attacks in stressful situations, or try and calm down when one is starting. I loved this narrative choice, because it conveys how anxious she is without constantly relaying her anxious thoughts. Switching between two narrators helps keep the lying from getting too stressful, especially when there are things that Morris doesn’t feel like he can tell Ellie, or Ellie isn’t ready to trust Morris with. They’re reliable narrators as individuals, but not always to each other, especially in part two, but part of the point of the story is how they work though that and learn to trust each other as they get closer. Part One felt a bit uneven with a lot of infodumps and a lot of explanations. It was trying to handle a lot of world-building really quickly, and it did a pretty good job, it just wasn’t to my personal tastes. Part Two had more room to maneuver now that the backstory was set up, and got into the first phase of the adventure. It also features a different kind of tension between the protagonists. Part Three focuses on the way their relationship is changing, and Part Four is about a final confrontation and what happens next. I liked the second half better than the first, but the plot arc is solid and I'm pretty happy with how it turns out.
I think I would love this book rather than just like it if I cared more about music. The story is extremely up front about being a love/save-the-planet adventure about connecting through music and books, and I loved the book bits and didn't care about the music bits, but they seemed to be well done. It's definitely a me thing, not anything wrong with the story. If you're a bit meh about music and connecting with people through it, then this won't be the book for you. If you're reading this review and slightly aghast that anyone wouldn't care about music, then you'll probably love this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Genocide, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Vomit
TW for Harry Potter reference (pages 68, 179, 363, 409, 425).packy_reads_'s review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Racism and Confinement
Minor: Vomit, Fatphobia, Chronic illness, and Alcoholism
There are two scenes with executions/hangings on page. Some mentions/ideas around parental neglect, forced institutionalization.tashadandelion's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
NOTE TO SELF: stop reading YA. With one exception: you can read it if it has staying power--if reviewers you trust and respect are still remarking on its remarkableness over a year later. But new YA? Give it a pass, because the chances are high it's not for you. /End NOTE TO SELF. I'm flat-out getting too old in years and life experience to enjoy anything remotely twee, and this book has twee in spades. To be fair, it also has a healthy dose of scary and unpleasant things in it too, which I call out in the content warnings. If I were 14-25, this book would probably appeal to me a lot more, but I'm a long, long way from that age range. So really, though I struggled to complete this book without skimming due to repetitive and overly-expressive, romantic dialogue and an all-over-the-place plot, I do have to give credit for the nice twist towards the end, where our heroes encounter some people they admire (keeping it vague to avoid spoilers).
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Violence, and Vomit
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