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ghostlyprince's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, and Outing
Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Classism
michaelion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Self harm, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism and Terminal illness
sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.0
Effie’s story, on the other hand, is a mess. Nothing happens with her for so long aside from a few vague things, and then she does something awful but it's immediately reversed, so I'm not really sure what the point was. Everything about her relationship to her bio family was uncomfortable to read.
I did love the way the two girls supported each other like sisters, but the book just did not come together as a whole for me.
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism and Cannibalism
valpyre's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
a bit of a slow start for me -- the fantastical exposition was a bit abstract and i couldnt really pinpoint what was real in their world and what wasnt. this definitely got better at the halfway point, and actually added depth to the perspectives of the main characters.
Moderate: Racism and Police brutality
Minor: Ableism
invioletshadows's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
That being said, I want to talk about the depiction of Sign Language and disability in this book, that almost entirely ruined the reading experience for me. I’m talking about this because I went into this book after hearing so many good things, and while I think the book deserves the praise in some aspects, I want people to think more critically about how disability is represented in books like this. Intersectionality is important, and it’s hard to praise diversity in one aspect when another aspect was handled poorly.
The biggest issue that I want people to be aware of: Tavia fakes a disability to hide her identity as a siren. She claims she has a disease that affects her vocal chords and causes her to go nonverbal as a way to cover up the times when she feels the need to stay silent to prevent herself from compelling someone with her siren voice. 1) Faking a disability is never acceptable under any circumstances. Disabled people (particularly those with invisible disabilities) already suffer from enough suspicion without fuel like this being added to the fire. 2) Choosing not to speak is different from going nonverbal. There are plenty of reasons people can go nonverbal, or be selectively or completely mute. Refusing to speak because speaking would cause you to compel someone is NOT the same as going nonverbal.
Before I continue, I’d like to thank @deafreader and @slangwrites for talking through the sign representation in this book with me! I appreciate your feedback and valuable discussions to help me better word the ways this book could have represented sign language and signing better! Several times throughout the book, the narration will say some variation of “When I speak sign”, or “She can speak sign”, etc. Signing is NOT a spoken language, and therefore this statement is unnecessary and incorrect. There are several times throughout the book where the phrase is said more accurately as “when i sign”, so the inconsistencies were very frustrating. This is something that could have been fixed with another edit pass, or having a d/Deaf or a disabled person who signs consult on this aspect of the book. When aspects of a disability are thrown into a book like this, it feels as though it was done merely for diversity kudos, without any real thought or care.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Murder
rini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism and Police brutality
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Suicide, Stalking, and Suicide attempt