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cumminsn'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
3.0
While there is very positive transgender, and LGBT in general, representation here, there is also rampant transphobia that I could see being very triggering to some. Also, the overuse of swearing and pop culture references took away from my immersion as well. For a book that has different characters that it switches perspectives between, I sometimes found myself having a hard time remembering who was who, with no very large differences in tone from one character to the next. Other than the antagonist, of course. The fact that she was evil was about the most obvious thing in the whole book.
I guess what disappointed me is that there wasn’t quite enough Fantasy to balance out the in-your-face politics that were constantly surfacing. I was more interested in the lore of the world, but the story seemed to stumble over itself to try and include as much political-correctness as possible that some of the characters didn’t even feel like genuine characters and more like just stereotypes being included for the sake of it, which was sad to read. Some of the language used, particularly internet-type wording and references, will likely not age well either.
I forced myself to finish this one. I was invested enough to want to do it, but I don’t know that I’ll be reaching for the sequel right away, if it all. In the end, I felt underwhelmed.
Graphic: Cursing, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
sfdogmom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Murder, Outing, and Gaslighting
Minor: Kidnapping
batbaby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Minor spoiler
——————————
3/4 way through I was sure I wouldn’t read the sequel but then when the action finally begins and the last chapter!! Maybe I will 🤔
Graphic: Child abuse and Transphobia
Moderate: Body horror, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Car accident, Murder, Outing, and War
lizbefann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Transphobia and Outing
elys3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Not enough witchy vibes. This feels like X-Men super powers in every fight scene. I want more spells, cauldrons and the actual 'craft' in witchcraft.
Way to many PoVs and characters all at once. 35% of the book just to establish the story and characters.
Even after reading the whole book I'm confused about the organisational structure that is HMRC and how it functions.
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Racism and Outing
Minor: Eating disorder and Self harm
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
(I am also very tired of books that go "covid happened but we used magic to make it go away" ugh! And blaming the anti-vax movement on warlocks is so distasteful.)
Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Outing
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
TW: transphobic, misogynistic, and ableist slurs. Internalized misogyny. Mention of drowning.withlivjones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
That said, it’s definitely not a perfect book. As I mentioned, it does take a while for the story to get going and the beginning is quite slow-paced. I found Helena as a character to be fairly one-dimensional compared to the others, the way her transphobia consumed her entire personality and motivations - when imo more of a focus should’ve been on her desire for control and unwillingness to be wrong driving her towards these beliefs and actions - felt quite heavy-handed. Even if her being an abuse victim had been explored further than just being vaguely mentioned, that would’ve fleshed out her character quite a bit. She served her purpose in the story but I think she could’ve been an even more interesting character (while still being a nasty TERF).
Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism and Outing
Minor: Domestic abuse and Racism
rory_o_rama'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: Transphobia and Dysphoria
Moderate: Violence and Outing
mossbelle's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racism, Torture, Transphobia, Car accident, Death of parent, Outing, and Toxic friendship
sassyykassie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Transphobia
Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Outing, and War