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reesescupps's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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? Yes
3.0
This is a fun middle grade book, perfect for a kid that wants to try reading romance. The characters are fun and there is some nice magical elements. It moves quickly enough to keep your attention.
My only complaint is the male love interest Deve pisses me off. He decides to just like ghost his best friend cause she doesn't realize he likes her? Then proceeded to get mad at her for it? Like sir you could have expressed your feelings instead of expecting her to read your mind, then getting mad when she can't.
My only complaint is the male love interest Deve pisses me off. He decides to just like ghost his best friend cause she doesn't realize he likes her? Then proceeded to get mad at her for it? Like sir you could have expressed your feelings instead of expecting her to read your mind, then getting mad when she can't.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death
darumachan's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
2.5
The premise and resolution are sweet and make this a solid middle-grade romance -- a genre that doesn't get enough love, IMO. But I didn't think that the friends-to-dating relationship was developed very well-- while it was nice that the MC was equally focused on others in her social circle at school, it ended up leaving the best friend/crush character a bit shallow and lacking any discernable voice or agency, to the extent of making him seem rather objectified by the final resolution.
The aspect of this novel that made me outright uncomfortable was the mother's extreme anxiety, which she was entirely unable to contain or filter around her 13-y.o. child. Yeah, I'm a mother of a teen, and I have significant, lifelong anxiety disorders, so I'm biased, but here's the thing - if a serious mental illness is introduced in a novel, I expect it to be explored with a *touch* more nuance than it got here with a patched-in traumatic backstory that explained why the mother developed it . Ultimately it read at best as a cheap plot point for the MC to see possible ways such toxic parenting might have affected her and at worst as a twisted "comic relief" based on the presumed absurdity of the mother's concerns. I'm unsure if this was the result of a clunky, awkward attempt to depict a real anxiety disorder or a downright ignorant and sloppy introduction of a "quirky" plot complication, but it took down what would have otherwise been a solid 3-star novel.
My thanks to Libro.fm for the advanced listening copy of this work.
The aspect of this novel that made me outright uncomfortable was the mother's extreme anxiety, which she was entirely unable to contain or filter around her 13-y.o. child. Yeah, I'm a mother of a teen, and I have significant, lifelong anxiety disorders, so I'm biased, but here's the thing - if a serious mental illness is introduced in a novel, I expect it to be explored with a *touch* more nuance than it got here
My thanks to Libro.fm for the advanced listening copy of this work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Child death