yoursam's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"Untethered," he said finally.
She took her hand in his, [...] "I've got you."
I like stories about how being human is very much about reaching out, about growing with the help of others, about yes maybe you could do it alone but you don't have to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Murder and Suicide
ckinkopf's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
Absolutely love this book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Child death, and Death
Minor: Suicide
chelseylb1988's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Child death, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
goroskiju's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Murder, and Suicide
valsometimesreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
This story is definitely for people that prefer character driven storytelling. One of TJ Klune's strengths is his character writing. Each character in his story is intricately planned out and given their own background. Mei, Hugo, Nelson, and Apollo are characters that you can't help but grow attached to and love. If I had to pick on it, I have to give it to TJ Klune in that he is the king of found family storytelling with the most loveable characters.
Spoiler
I do think that the relationship between Hugo and Wallace had some minor pacing issues. However, I also think this problem is inherent with the setting and purpose of this story, as Wallace is dead anyway. I think maybe this story would have also been more impactful with an ending of Wallace truly crossing through the white door.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
booksandstardust's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Suicide and Child death
Minor: Murder and Death of parent
kristenturnsthepage's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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: Death, Suicide, Murder, and Child death
ellaleisterford's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Bittersweet, healing, hopeful
I’m going to be honest, the beginning was a bit rough to get into and I would have DNF’d it if I hadn’t been told to just push through the first half, that the second half was worth it. And it is!
I’m not sure how long it took me to get into it fully, it wasn’t one specific point. I just remember noticing how often I laughed and cried with the characters as I fell in love with them - and cried even more when I drew the connections to my own loss.
This book is beautifully bittersweet. It is heartwarming as the friendships between all the characters evolve, but it can also burn and hurt, especially after losing someone yourself. However, I found it to be very healing, soothing a broken part in me, giving hope that it isn’t just over in the end. It allows you to nurture your own grief, while still serving the escapism.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Suicide
hannahloveslit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Car accident, Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
jwells's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This is a bit hard to review. I kind of had the same feeling that I had about House by the Cerulean Sea, which is that it's a book about feelings, at the expense of being about either plot or characters. I don't mind if the plot of a book is a character arc, or the plot is a relationship's evolution. Neither of those seems quite right to say about this book, though. Straight up a book about feelings. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that Klune is an Enneagram Four. (I've never met him, and that's just an unscientific guess based on reading a couple of his books, but I'm guessing a head-type didn't write this book. LOL)
I guess it's supposed to be about Wallace's character arc. Wallace learns not to be an asshole. That's not much of a spoiler; we see in chapter one that he's an incredible asshole, and presumably the story isn't going to be about How Wallace Stubbornly Remained an Asshole, The End. I wasn't in much suspense about what was going to happen.
A lot of the book felt slow, like I was impatiently waiting for him to catch a clue. (It's probably good all around that I don't have Hugo's job.) I loved a lot of the secondary characters. Mei was great, and so was Nelson. But a lot of the time I didn't have the feelings that I felt like I was supposed to be having. I was waiting for stuff to happen.
Until the epilogue, that is. I was quite irritated that the book could leave me fairly cold, and then make me cry over the stupid epilogue.
I guess it's supposed to be about Wallace's character arc. Wallace learns not to be an asshole. That's not much of a spoiler; we see in chapter one that he's an incredible asshole, and presumably the story isn't going to be about How Wallace Stubbornly Remained an Asshole, The End. I wasn't in much suspense about what was going to happen.
A lot of the book felt slow, like I was impatiently waiting for him to catch a clue. (It's probably good all around that I don't have Hugo's job.) I loved a lot of the secondary characters. Mei was great, and so was Nelson. But a lot of the time I didn't have the feelings that I felt like I was supposed to be having. I was waiting for stuff to happen.
Until the epilogue, that is. I was quite irritated that the book could leave me fairly cold, and then make me cry over the stupid epilogue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Child death
Some creepy zombie-like people, who eventually