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solenekeleroux's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book so much, it's one of my new favorites.
I'm not at all a team sports fan, so I didn't know if I would enjoy it, but it's about so much more than sports. It's really about a team turned coven using dark powers to become their true full liberated selves. The collective narration is so good, I loved the magic, the wild moments of dancing under the moon, the sexual liberation stories. I loved how it is funny but also lyrical at times, the writing is beautiful.
I'm not at all a team sports fan, so I didn't know if I would enjoy it, but it's about so much more than sports. It's really about a team turned coven using dark powers to become their true full liberated selves. The collective narration is so good, I loved the magic, the wild moments of dancing under the moon, the sexual liberation stories. I loved how it is funny but also lyrical at times, the writing is beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Stalking
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Rape
peachmoni's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Infidelity, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol
yavin_iv's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia
astronut's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Animal death and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, and Stalking
lectora21's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Vomit
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book takes place in 1989, and is basically a love letter to the 80s. It is overflowing with references, but I was born in 1991, and unfortunately a lot of them went over my head. It made reading this not flow very well, and when I did know a reference it just felt so much smoother, and could even change the meaning of a paragraph or sentence. It just makes me wonder how much I missed by not understanding everything.
The story itself moved at a great pace in the beginning, but then it shifted to where each chapter focused more on an individual character. It definitely slowed things down, and made it to where there would be all this exposition on the individual's family, upbringing, feelings, and then it would gloss over an event that happened in just a few sentences. This really started to bother me at the end when the climax of the story was just a few paragraphs tucked into a flashback.
This book also has a lot of characters. To the point where the author uses their full names quite often. I was fine with keeping the main group of characters straight, but it was just too much to try and keep up with all the side characters. I also found the switching between the parents first names and Mr/Mrs so-and-so confusing, especially when there were a lot of characters in a scene.
I picked up this book for the witchcraft, but it went in a different direction than I was expecting. I did enjoy those aspects of the story, but not understanding the 80s references was just a hinderance in my enjoyment of this book. The climax for me also fell flat. I liked that it became a coming of age story, but I don't think the plot should have been left behind to accomplish that.
The story itself moved at a great pace in the beginning, but then it shifted to where each chapter focused more on an individual character. It definitely slowed things down, and made it to where there would be all this exposition on the individual's family, upbringing, feelings, and then it would gloss over an event that happened in just a few sentences. This really started to bother me at the end when the climax of the story was just a few paragraphs tucked into a flashback.
This book also has a lot of characters. To the point where the author uses their full names quite often. I was fine with keeping the main group of characters straight, but it was just too much to try and keep up with all the side characters. I also found the switching between the parents first names and Mr/Mrs so-and-so confusing, especially when there were a lot of characters in a scene.
I picked up this book for the witchcraft, but it went in a different direction than I was expecting. I did enjoy those aspects of the story, but not understanding the 80s references was just a hinderance in my enjoyment of this book. The climax for me also fell flat. I liked that it became a coming of age story, but I don't think the plot should have been left behind to accomplish that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Animal death and Homophobia
rigbees's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Following a high school field hockey team's ascent into finally winning (with the help of some dark magic), We Ride Upon Sticks is a nostalgic look back at the challenges of being an adolescent girl in the 80s. This book is more than just nostalgia, of course, but it's definitely a re-examination of high school life from the author's point of view. The book is filled with a strong cast of characters (an entire field hockey team!) and works to show the different facets of life in Danvers with the different characters.
I will say that there's a constant nod to mystery throughout the book. There are references for strange things about to happen, but the ultimate mystery is a bit of a letdown. Enjoy the book for the story unfolding, not the mystery!
The book explicitly talks about changing views around bad sex, sexual assault, and teacher-student relationships. It tries to straddle a line here, both sympathetic to contempary views but wanting to complicate what the narrator sees as overly simplified moral judgements.
I will say that there's a constant nod to mystery throughout the book. There are references for strange things about to happen, but the ultimate mystery is a bit of a letdown. Enjoy the book for the story unfolding, not the mystery!
The book explicitly talks about changing views around bad sex, sexual assault, and teacher-student relationships. It tries to straddle a line here, both sympathetic to contempary views but wanting to complicate what the narrator sees as overly simplified moral judgements.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Homophobia
cheye13's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"Eleven sticks bundled together can withstand anythinng. One stick out in the cold all on its own can't even withstand itself."
This was a fun and unique read, but I wanted more out of it. It's pitched as truly absurd, and I set my expectations too high. I wanted the story to push further – push the witchcraft, push teen angst & rage, even push field hockey further. Instead it precisely toes the line between fantasy – "magic is real" – and ambiguity – "is magic real?"; while both options could've worked, this story avoided the choice, building an ominous tone with no ultimate payoff. And while the end didn't pull the typical "married, suburbs, 1.5 kids," it still felt far too much like an epilogue to me.
On the other hand, the teen girls & their diverse personalities and experiences were stellar. The 80s east-coast suburb was nearly tangible, a great foundation for the story. I appreciated the nuanced contextualization of the 80s norms; serious topics like sexism, sexual assault, racism, etc. aren't simply swept away with "it was a different time," but addressed in-story, then further contextualized in relation to today. While it's not one of my favorite reads, I do think it's a good book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Stalking
ginferra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book captured an era and a lifestyle of suburban kids in the late 80s that was so familiar to me. Then add witchcraft. It's a little slow to start, and for a while I wasn't sure if I cared what happened to anyone (there are a lot of characters, but the whole story is told in the 1st person plural, with some 3rd person when distinguishing a particular thread). A third of the way in I was hooked and wanted them all to win, or at least not get into too much trouble.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
The narrator voices the status quo beliefs of white suburbia in the 80s, and makes attempts to acknowledge it, and challenges some of it as part of the story.tashadandelion's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This is a quirky and slightly nostalgic tour of young womanhood in New England, circa 1989. Barry handles the all-around less woke worldview we had back then with finesse. There is acceptance and forgiveness for a way of interacting in the world that no-one knew could be improved at that time. We inevitably change, and this book celebrates that fact. The Danvers High School varsity field hockey team decides to turn their luck around with a little old-fashioned witchcraft. The team pledges their adherence to "the darkness", affectionately named "Emilio" after the soft-focus movie star on the cover of the spiral-bound notebook containing their pledges. They tie pieces of a cut up gym sock around their upper arms to seal the deal. This somewhat desperate and whimsical act turns their perennial losing streak around, provides psychic powers, and takes the lid off their inhibitions. What follows is an amusing romp through senior year sports and misbehavior. How much is fueled by supernatural dark powers, and how much is simply young women finding their inner truth? I think it's up to the reader to decide.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Homophobia