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moserk'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
3.5
- immigrants/immigration
- LGBTQIA identities and their acceptance/lack thereof
- familial roles
- medical/healthcare ethics,
The pace felt rushed - just 50 more pages to shed more light, please! And some pieces really lacked clarity - although, maybe some of this is due to the focus on character/topic diversity, which again, I much appreciated. I (literally) felt like this story was all over the place - couldn't keep our location sequence sorted.
Worth noting: I had both a physical and audio copy of this and understood better during my physical chapters. At first I thought the detail disconnect was a symptom of my audio portions, but a quick peek at other reviews tells me that I'm not alone here.
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia
elissarodriguez22'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
3.0
But it fell just a bit short, I wanted it expanded on more, flushed out. The ending just feels like “welp, that’s that on that”
Anyway, loved the concept, wasn’t the happiest with the execution
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia
avacadosocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
sewoller'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: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment
hobbithopeful's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Marisol has little choice to do otherwise when she agrees to be a part of an experiment in exchange for safety for her and her sister. As the experiment progresses the burden of pain soon becomes overbearing, but she can't help but grow closer and closer to Rey, even though when she touches her the pain is all consuming.
A very real look at how immigrants are treated, this book was heartfelt, real, and full of grief. I do wish it was a bit longer, I still had so many questions, or maybe I just wasn't ready to leave these characters yet. I was afraid this was going to be a very heavy read, and while it does have pockets of sadness, it was nothing too difficult or graphic for me to get through.
It's very easy to forget the privilege we have for being in America, as bad as events and people here can be, there are countless others who works themselves to the bone and risk everything to come here.
I highly recommend this book.
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Xenophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
vampire_burrito's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia
browdya'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
3.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, and Lesbophobia
novelyon'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
While I enjoyed the characters' arcs and relationships, I found the plot itself to be a bit slow (especially in the beginning, with multiple chapters explaining how the grief transfer works, which doesn't feel very important as this book is very light sci-fi anyway), and the themes could've been touched on with a little more depth. For a novel where the protagonist is a brown immigrant being exploited for a privileged white girl, it lets off the characters that caused and perpetuated that exploitation surprisingly, and disappointingly, lightly. Not only that, but I wish the book dealt with Gabi's trauma more as well; both sisters have been through so much yet the novel doesn't quite touch upon Gabi as it does Marisol; there are many moments where Marisol goes "she's been through so much," yet there are very few moments outside of a precious few lines of dialogue that show that Gabi and some of her behaviors may be processing her own traumas as well.
The ending was also quite abrupt:
Overall, a wonderful book to read if you are invested for the relationships between the characters, but if one wants to read a book that really dives into the heavy topic of US immigration policy and exploitation, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, Blood, and Medical content
snowydaze'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
4.5
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
mckeelyshannon's review against another edition
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault