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valerian_honeybee'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury
atuin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked the characters of the book, as I found their deeply flawed but still caring natures interesting. It was that same dynamic of deeply flawed people caring for each other that drew me to this author in the first place, as I loved his short story in Uncanny magazine.
I'll admit the constant drug use, drinking, and reckless driving felt a little absurd, especially when they all got mixed together. I can suspend my disbelief for ghosts and the supernatural, but drinking and driving with no consequences? That's just ridiculous.
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
c_alexander's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
loved this - loved the complex characters and relationships, the imagery, tone, and the pacing!
was disappointed side characters weren't further developed - especially in terms of the bipoc characters; racism is a theme explored in the book but in a really brief capacity considering its relevance
took a little while to 'pick up' but had me hooked in the second half
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent
dodgeremerson'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Death of parent
beepsies's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Racism, and Classism
Minor: Racism, Suicide, Torture, and Medical content
At one point, the main character sleepwalks and is found covered inwardenred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Is there anything in this scenario that feels heterosexual or well-adjusted to you?
Well, this was a trip, and I loved practically every minute. It's a messy story of grief and codependency, and while Andrew isn't the most likable MC I've ever met, to put it mildly, I also found him incredibly relatable. To tell the truth, no character in this book was 100% likable (Riley came closest?), but plenty of them made me feel for them and kept me intrigued. Sam in particular was a great character to follow throughout the story as he revealed more and more of himself, like piling back layers of an onion. And West's subplot, although rather small, was one of my favorite things about the book. And then there's Eddie, who exists in the plot purely as a memory full of contradictions, never to be resolved.
The writing style here really stuck with me. It's incredibly... sensory? Tactile? There's sure a lot of emphasize on bodies—Andrew is constantly aware of his own muscles and bones, and everyone around him—and physical sensations in general. It was interesting to see how the author focused on all the physicality and through that brought emotions to life. I'm usually the opposite, both in how I write and how I perceive the world, and I'm also not a super visual reader, but the prose here really pulled me into the story and the setting and made me experience some scenes as though I were watching a movie.
As for the plot, if I had to describe the story in one word, I'd pick "liminal." Andrew spends pretty much the entire thing stuck between things. The past and the present/future. His memories of Eddie and the true legacy Eddie left him. The orderly cut-throat academic world and the wild freedom of nighttime drives with the bad crowd. The sunlit summer in the real world and the cold land of the ghosts. Grief has a way of trapping you in the moment, in that empty page between chapters, especially when you're grieving someone you had a weird codependent relationship with, doubly so when they abandoned you even before they died, and Mandelo captures the feeling masterfully while also crafting a great southern gothic horror story. There are so many nested secrets here, the mystery Andrew investigates and the one he keeps from the reader, as well as the things he doesn't understand about himself that everyone else does. Also, I'm torn between wanting a sequel, because I so much want to know how Andrew and the people around him fare now that his amber bubble is burst and the next chapter begins, and being completely, utterly, 100% satisfied with the final scene.
For all of my praise, however, there are aspects of the book that won't let me five-star it. For once, the story is incredibly masculine. That in itself isn't a flaw; such stories have their place. But literally all the women in the plot only exist to drive the male characters' storylines further, in a variety of ways. They're pretty much all more plot devices than characters, tools that resolve plot questions, trigger events, or bring forth necessary revelations while exhibiting zero character traits that aren't 100% relevant to their role in the plot. That's a stark and unpleasant contrast to the way more nuanced handling of male characters, and it didn't sit well with me. Like, come on. This has good trans rep, this has decent poly rep that compares and contrasts healthy and unhealthy dynamics in a throuple, but somehow female characters get this odd treatment? Why?
Another part I wasn't fully satisfied with was the dark academia aspect. The academic parts of the book were so often pushed to the curb or just briefly summarized without proper focus, and considering how crucial that part of the story turned out to be for the main plot resolution, that was just... weird. Finally, for me it felt like the author went overboard with all the substance abuse. At some point, all the mentions of drugs and alcohol started feeling like they were just there to make the story darker and edgier.
PS: I'm kind of convinced that Lee Mandelo had my favorite Placebo song (Kings of Medicine) on repeat while writing this, because if not, then how?
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Self harm, and Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, and Medical content
Minor: Transphobia
bootsmom3'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Slavery and Vomit
remimicha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Racism, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Classism
bookenbee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
foreverinastory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Rep: white achillean-questioning male MC with anxiety, white queer male love interest, white queer polyamorous trans male side character, various queer coded side characters, Black male side character (sexuality not indicated).
CWs: Suicide, death, blood, grief, murder, drug use (smoking and snorting), violence, body horror (including haunting/possession), gore, alcohol consumption, homophobia/homomisia, sexual content, injury/injury detail, vomit, panic attacks, self-harm, cursing, racism (systemic and interpersonal), drug abuse, alcoholism, torture, toxic relationship, toxic friendship. Moderate: confinement, kidnapping, mental illness, death of parent, animal death, biphobia/bimisia, car accident, medical content/trauma, suicidal thought, suicide attempt, psychosis, cancer, fire, transphobia/transmisia, terminal illness. Minor: mentions of slavery.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Biphobia, Cancer, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Slavery