e_reader's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-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

5.0

This book shattered my heart and put it back together again. Jonathan and Web’s story pulls at all of the heart strings, and I just wanted to give Jonathan a hug. The book ends with a little bit of hope and some tearful moments. 

In particular I found the conversion therapy and Web being Indigenous as central to the story and they definitely  add to the book. Contrary to what some people said, I actually really like this meandering style of writing, it gives it a poetic tone. And the imagery is just fantastic, don’t skip over the details. 

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andrealeeeigh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25


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sarahcherie's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I feel like one of the few who do not like this book. On the one hand, we have representation for Indigenous people, Black people, and gay people, which is always nice to see.
However, this book does fall victim to the "the bad guy is also secretly gay" trope TWICE, with Scott and Hal, and I think that trope can be very damaging.
And even though dealing with racism and homophobia was a major theme in this book, I couldn't help but feel like slurs and ignorance were thrown around TOO much, to the point where reading it no longer left a bad taste in my mouth, but just made me roll my eyes and skip ahead. I also was not particularly fond of the writing style or the pacing, as it took me forever to get into the book, and then it seemed that things started happening too quickly, especially at the end.

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