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courtnoodles's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent, Child abuse, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Grief, and Outing
Moderate: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement
traa'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
4.25
Graphic: Dysphoria, Murder, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, War, Death, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fatphobia and Outing
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
th18'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? It's complicated
3.75
- Fast pace and seemed more YA than anything, too many modern references for me personally but each to their own.
- This also felt like the second book of the series at the start there was just so much unexplained things thrown in.
- Whilst the book did deal with modern topics such as race and trans rights, I wish it also talked a bit about harmful beauty standards due to Elle literally hiding her true self from her husband.
- I feel like the amount of swear words was also unnneeded.
- I love the idea of queer witches and empowered modern women but I feel like the talk about adulthood was very bleak
- The writing and worldbuilding also felt quite underdeveloped which was disappointing
- Finally the use of the d slur was completely unneeded
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Death, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Classism, Cursing, Car accident, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Child abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Racism, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Outing, Kidnapping, Self harm, Infidelity, and Abortion
axel_p's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Misogyny, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Confinement, Outing, Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Murder, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder
Minor: War, Racism, Sexism, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, and Transphobia
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
4.5
This book really scared me. It took me longer than I would usually take to read what is quite an accessibly written, witchy, adult fantasy, because of the feelings it churned up. It is a horrifyingly close political parallel to transphobic rhetoric, and reading this so close to the recent Melbourne TERF-Nazi rally was particularly frightening. It felt very reminiscent of Helena’s actions throughout the book and at times I found it difficult to read on because things just felt hopeless.
But beneath this confronting political rhetoric is the heart of queer stories everywhere: the family that makes fighting worth it. The family we’re fighting for.
Now ummm if someone could like…give me the sequel?
——
ARE YOU KIDDING ME that cliffhanger?!?
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
kateyhb'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
4.25
I really liked most of the main characters, and this book is bursting with queer allyship (despite the excruciating bits of TERF garbage we are forced to read). If you’re a left-leaning queer/ally who likes fantasy, this will be an enjoyable read for you.
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Physical abuse
amy_reading_23'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
4.75
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
annelihghh'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
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Car accident, Confinement, Grief, Outing, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, War, Bullying, Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Vomit
haylzno'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
Low/urban fantasy: set in our world but add in some ✨magic✨
I loved the array of creatures they sprinkled throughout and the realistic integration of witches and warlocks with the "mundanes".
Great queer rep. Lots of bad ass witches.
There are quite a few POVs but I think it served the plot well. You're able to get a better sense of the characters thanks to the POVs.
Massive cliff hanger right at the end! I can't wait for the next book.
Graphic: War, Grief, Child abuse, Transphobia, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Homophobia