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authorannafaundez's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Better than book #1. The authors seemed to have figured out that the non-stop body-shaming and slut-shaming was annoying to read. However, it's not 100% gone in this book. Just less. The rude language is also decreased. There were a few instances of author intrusion regarding their personal opinions on certain subjects (i.e. sex) and it was extremely distracting.
Zoey is still pretty judgmental, and she still has a woman-hating problem. Her overall growth as a person isn't great, but this book only takes place a month (ish) after book #1. There's still hope.
This book was slower than book #1, but the story overall was more interesting.
Zoey is still pretty judgmental, and she still has a woman-hating problem. Her overall growth as a person isn't great, but this book only takes place a month (ish) after book #1. There's still hope.
This book was slower than book #1, but the story overall was more interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Homophobia, and Gaslighting
mobkima's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
2.75 STARS
Okay, this one is a little worse....still aged like a beautiful bottle of milk that sits behind Grandma's fridge, but the teenager characters feel a little more accurate. Some of the writing in this book kinda reminds me of the viral Harry Potter fanfiction, My Immortal.
Though, not mentioned in the last book, I actually find this series' version of Vampires to be kind of cool. I haven't read enough vampire literature to know if its particularly creative, but I do enjoy the Indigenous and Spiritual motifs woven within as well as the consequences of turning into a vampire. The moon tribal tattoo stuff is also very much a nice visual.
Plot twist at the end was very predictable to me and the stakes weren't that insane to me, but I also had hindsight that there are like thirty million of these books (there's like twelve?)
Okay, this one is a little worse....still aged like a beautiful bottle of milk that sits behind Grandma's fridge, but the teenager characters feel a little more accurate. Some of the writing in this book kinda reminds me of the viral Harry Potter fanfiction, My Immortal.
Though, not mentioned in the last book, I actually find this series' version of Vampires to be kind of cool. I haven't read enough vampire literature to know if its particularly creative, but I do enjoy the Indigenous and Spiritual motifs woven within as well as the consequences of turning into a vampire. The moon tribal tattoo stuff is also very much a nice visual.
Plot twist at the end was very predictable to me and the stakes weren't that insane to me, but I also had hindsight that there are like thirty million of these books (there's like twelve?)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Death and Infidelity
Minor: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
samchelsey's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Blood
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Stalking
doomluz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, and Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
nick13's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
2.5
I like this book's plot more than the last one but overall it is pretty much the same trash as the last one lol. Not saying it's bad, bc I am really enjoying myself while reading this but mostly just because the writing is absolutely terrible. If I delved deeper into the writing more than that, this review would take an hour to write because there is just so much terribleness to unpack so I'll just leave it at, I don't recommend reading this series if you want a genuinely good story but if you just want some fun then this is a great series to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Pedophilia
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
winnyreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
I try really hard to finish everything I start, especially series but I really don’t think I can finish this series. From book one it was hard not to notice how outdated a lot of things were, from language to behavior. The constant slut shaming, homophobia, racism, and ableism is disgusting. I cannot go further than this book for the sake of both my mental health and brain cells.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Don’t waste your timekittycattmeow's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Car accident
nyctxnthus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Blood, and Religious bigotry
rachaelarsenault's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Another book with great potential that is completely squandered.
I didn't mention this in my review of the first book, but part of the pacing problems stem from the authors throwing in plot point after plot point and never addressing any of them. One such plot point was that fledglings who had Rejected the Change would show up again with bright red eyes. Two such characters appeared very briefly in "Marked", but received little to no serious attention. Even in this book, when they become a central plot point, they are mostly ignored until over halfway through the story.
This book has a lot of great, interesting elements. But the execution is atrocious. It seems like these authors can't pace a story to save their lives. So much of the book is spent focusing on boy drama (including an incredibly illegal student-teacher romance) and Zoey's very boring plans to restructure the Dark Daughters, rather than focusing on the teens that go missing and turn up dead or the apparent zombies that are wandering campus. Even when the authors throw in a subplot about calling in a fake bomb threat they manage to make it dragged out and boring.
Another issue I failed to touch on in the first book is how the authors handle Zoey's Cherokee heritage. It seems to mostly exist to make her more exotic and magical, which is incredibly offensive. Also, Cherokee ritualism is inexplicably mixed in with Wiccan circle casting - which was already nonsensical considering they worship the Greek goddess Nyx. But the decision to bastardize any seemingly mystical culture in this series' shoddy excuse for world-building is only made worse when Zoey decides to use eucalyptus in a ritual, citing it as an ancient herb used by her people for centuries. Even though eucalyptus is from Australia. The first book was already dipping into pan-Indianism, but now the story has managed to dive into transcontinental pan-Indianism. It's amazing, honestly.
The narrative also suffers from poor writing decisions that kill tension or spoil the story. For example, very important information regarding the death of a character and the zombie fledglings is revealed in chapter twenty-five, shortly after the character's death, when it should have been kept a secret until the end of chapter twenty-eight - and yet it's still presented as a surprise in chapter twenty-eight. Moreover, the character's imminent death is heavily foreshadowed from the end of chapter eighteen until the middle of chapter twenty-two, but all the characters ignore and dismiss it because it would be inconvenient to the narrative if they were worrying about this character. It showcases the poor pacing of the series and the strange tendency of the authors to prioritize frivolities over the actual plot.
All the same issues that existed in the first book persist in this one. The only reason I gave it more than a zero-star rating is because it mostly had a coherent plot, even if it was dragged out and frequently ignored.
I didn't mention this in my review of the first book, but part of the pacing problems stem from the authors throwing in plot point after plot point and never addressing any of them. One such plot point was that fledglings who had Rejected the Change would show up again with bright red eyes. Two such characters appeared very briefly in "Marked", but received little to no serious attention. Even in this book, when they become a central plot point, they are mostly ignored until over halfway through the story.
This book has a lot of great, interesting elements. But the execution is atrocious. It seems like these authors can't pace a story to save their lives. So much of the book is spent focusing on boy drama (including an incredibly illegal student-teacher romance) and Zoey's very boring plans to restructure the Dark Daughters, rather than focusing on the teens that go missing and turn up dead or the apparent zombies that are wandering campus. Even when the authors throw in a subplot about calling in a fake bomb threat they manage to make it dragged out and boring.
Another issue I failed to touch on in the first book is how the authors handle Zoey's Cherokee heritage. It seems to mostly exist to make her more exotic and magical, which is incredibly offensive. Also, Cherokee ritualism is inexplicably mixed in with Wiccan circle casting - which was already nonsensical considering they worship the Greek goddess Nyx. But the decision to bastardize any seemingly mystical culture in this series' shoddy excuse for world-building is only made worse when Zoey decides to use eucalyptus in a ritual, citing it as an ancient herb used by her people for centuries. Even though eucalyptus is from Australia. The first book was already dipping into pan-Indianism, but now the story has managed to dive into transcontinental pan-Indianism. It's amazing, honestly.
The narrative also suffers from poor writing decisions that kill tension or spoil the story. For example, very important information regarding the death of a character and the zombie fledglings is revealed in chapter twenty-five, shortly after the character's death, when it should have been kept a secret until the end of chapter twenty-eight - and yet it's still presented as a surprise in chapter twenty-eight. Moreover, the character's imminent death is heavily foreshadowed from the end of chapter eighteen until the middle of chapter twenty-two, but all the characters ignore and dismiss it because it would be inconvenient to the narrative if they were worrying about this character. It showcases the poor pacing of the series and the strange tendency of the authors to prioritize frivolities over the actual plot.
All the same issues that existed in the first book persist in this one. The only reason I gave it more than a zero-star rating is because it mostly had a coherent plot, even if it was dragged out and frequently ignored.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, and Outing
Minor: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, and Islamophobia
Sex shamingleahkristin's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I have the same issues with this book that I had with the first book, Marked. I still really wanted to love this series. The slurs were noticeably less in this installment but still existed. I didn't notice as many fatphobic comments, but the language used in this series still just doesn't sit right with me. It is not justifiable to the story and therefore should have been removed.
The story itself got a lot more confusing with this one, and there seemed to be so much going on toward the end that it was difficult to keep up with the main plot.
The characters themselves are okay, but I feel that they need more development. The only character so far that I feel has had a decent shot at decent character development is Aphrodite - and she's not even part of the "Nerd Herd."
Overall, this was a solid filler book and definitely leaves more questions to be explored in future installments.
The story itself got a lot more confusing with this one, and there seemed to be so much going on toward the end that it was difficult to keep up with the main plot.
The characters themselves are okay, but I feel that they need more development. The only character so far that I feel has had a decent shot at decent character development is Aphrodite - and she's not even part of the "Nerd Herd."
Overall, this was a solid filler book and definitely leaves more questions to be explored in future installments.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming and Homophobia
Generally this series has a ton of fatshaming/body shaming and ED shaming, there is homophobia and it is addressed (although it is address badly imo).