itsjadenbaby's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Cute concept and a good, cozy fall read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty and Blood
bluejayreads's review
adventurous
funny
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
This book is quite silly in concept but also very fun. The idea is that Haley, the protagonist obsessed with Gothic romances, ends up in the pocket dimension that protects our universe from a universe of evil - and this pocket dimension is inexplicably Gothic romance-themed. It makes fun of Gothic romance tropes a lot, and thought I got the major ideas, I'm not huge into Gothic romances so I'm sure I missed a lot of the trope-based jokes. The art was fun (although the extreme lack of detail on the faces compared to everything else felt a bit off to me), and I even laughed out loud a few times. Despite the purported seriousness of the plot (pocket dimension being attacked by an evil force that will consume our universe if it succeeds), none of it feels all that dangerous or impactful. Perhaps it's because Haley's obsession with Gothic literature makes this story feel fictional even within itself. But everything feels very fake and relentlessly silly. Not necessarily in a bad way - it was fun and I enjoyed it. But it was really hard to get actually emotionally invested because I just couldn't manage to forget it's just a silly little story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Bullying and Body horror
Mind controlzombiezami's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
It was cute
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Death, Body horror, and Confinement
oddduck's review
fast-paced
4.5
Super cute and fun! I loved how this played with genre, and how Haley used genre conventions to her advantage, and rejected her assigned role in the narrative. All the characters were fun and creatively written and I loved the relationships between them. The world building was also cool and I loved how it dipped into sci-fi. I also loved the art and the character designs! They were all so different and interesting to look at.
[Content note: there are two characters who appear briefly at the start and end, and are intended to be bullies, but their insults include saying, "She's weird/a nerd lol" and it honestly feels like such a caricature that I have a hard time taking it seriously. They clearly intend it to be mean, but they're so incompetent that it's really just like ". . .okay?" and you move on.]
[Content note: there are two characters who appear briefly at the start and end, and are intended to be bullies, but their insults include saying, "She's weird/a nerd lol" and it honestly feels like such a caricature that I have a hard time taking it seriously. They clearly intend it to be mean, but they're so incompetent that it's really just like ". . .okay?" and you move on.]
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Blood
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