Reviews with content warning for Racism - All Our Hidden Gifts

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

56 reviews

spiralbound89's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

2.75

I am feeling a bit torn about this book, but I think that I will not continue the series. The magic system is interesting, and I like that the other characters are not afraid to call out Maeve because she definitely needs to be. I don't particularly like Maeve if I'm being honest, but I have already seen some growth in her, which gives me hope. This deals with a lot more political religious bigotry than I was expecting, and it achieves it's intention of making me angry (I am torn about how it's gone about, though, because it does call out Maeve via Fiona in the end about how Maeve views why it's happening (

the rip made by the Housekeeper "causing" more people to be hateful, when Fiona is right, some people are just hateful all on their own

, but I don't like Aaron period (

literally I HATED that he called the Housekeeper his pet; absolutely FUCK HIM; it sucks that a man is taking a powerful female character like that (yes, technically she is an it, and the it is probably a demon or something, but still), and it didn't have to go that way, which infuriates me

).

IMPORTANT WARNING: Even though it does set it up, there is a scene (multiple, but one that's particularly intense) depicting a hate crime, and it took me off-guard.

It did a good job keeping the intrigue up, but there were some stereotypical YA aspects that annoyed me. For instance, I don't think the romance was necessarily at all (there were also moments when it went a bit too sexual for YA, which made me uncomfortable). At the very least, if the romance HAD to be there, then it should have been paced better. Their relationship was too sudden (

at least wait for them to get together until the first book; instead it could have gone like this: the attraction could still be there, but more bonding, and the fight could still occur, but instead of a break-up the boundary is just still put in place; maybe they confess towards the end, but it is not necessary or set up well enough yet!

), multiple fights that pop up were too sudden (there would be times where: oh, they brought that up literally out of nowhere), and it does this book a disservice. Hopefully these aspects will improve along with Maeve's character as she goes on (yes, a major character flaw of hers is an inability to accept responsibility for her actions (a major pet peeve of mine) and it influences her every opinion, decision, and how I view her character; keep the character growth coming!)

The continuation of the series should be interesting with all of them having powers and Lily's return (I agree that Lily, though she might eventually, doesn't need to or even should forgive Maeve at this point; Maeve retrieving her from the river is about her own guilt, not about Lily at all, so that's not justification for why Lily should forgive her. She is called on that, which is good. I'm not thrilled to encounter Aaron again, though (not the most interesting part of the book for me, and honestly made me a bit uncomfortable, but I get that's part of the point).

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cmkrasman's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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sleepy_stardust's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book started out great. O'Donoghue's prose is magnetic, and it pulled me into reading around 160 pages in one sitting without boredom setting in. She includes a diverse cast of characters with different races, religions, gender identities, and sexualities.

But oh my god, does Maeve Chambers ruin it.

At first, a romance subplot began with one of the side characters, Roe. It's eased into, and I found myself enjoying their relationship. Then, out of nowhere, they share a passionate kiss. No build-up, nothing, nada. From then on, I found it difficult to empathize with the main character's love problems; it's difficult to be surprised that a relationship isn't going well when the couple doesn't know one another.

Maeve's also pretty unlikeable in general. In the beginning, she seemed realistically imperfect. Were her flaws difficult to tolerate? Yes. Could I understand where she was coming from? Also, yes. However, as the novel progresses, her perspective becomes increasingly infuriating. She invalidates her partner's insecurities about their unstable relationship (which started after his sister went missing, mind you, and partly because of Maeve). She's overly capricious and causes mini-conflicts in the novel that are entirely superfluous and unworthy of the reader's attention.

Besides Maeve's characterization problems, the novel's ending is incredibly cliché. It reads like the end of a pilot episode of a crime-fighting show, where the main characters have finally realized that they're meant to take on the mysteries of the world together. It's horrendously underwhelming; O'Donoghue would have been better off starting the second book and adding exposition throughout to explain the characters' backstories.

Roe and Fiona were enough to save this book from being a total drag for me, though.

2.5☆ / 5☆

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veggiestrawenjoyer13's review against another edition

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funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.5

Overall, this book was an enjoyable read and I will definitely be reading the second one. The plot twists were unpredictable and I liked the mystery/suspense. The modern media references threw me off a lot, but they were funny. Some of the dialogue was awkward, but teens are going to be awkward so I can get over that. The romance was cute, I like that it wasn’t the main plot but added more emotional depth to the characters. The diversity and inclusion felt authentic, not forced. The witchy vibes were cool and I leaned a lot about Wiccan traditions. The supernatural aspect was also cool, and it all tied together very well. The only major issue I had was the pacing at the end. It felt rushed after the main conflict was resolved. The concepts of everyone’s gifts were really interesting, I just wish it didn’t seem so sudden. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a casual read who likes modern magical books.

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claireclimbstrees's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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se_wigget's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This was wonderful and hard to put down--though the anti-queer Christofascists pissed me off. They need to be hexed.

44%: Wow--a sea monkeys reference... about an hour after I finished listening to an American Hysteria podcast episode about Sea Monkeys!

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oddduck's review against another edition

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4.0

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

This book was gifted to me by Izzy from the book club I'm in as part of a gift exchange for Halloween. This book has been on my TBR for ages after an online friend did a post recommending it. I am so thankful for Izzy for buying me the first book in the series and it did not disappoint.

This book is based on Maeve Chambers, and she feels like she doesn’t have much going for her. She feels like the idiot in her family of geniuses, she pushed her best friend Lily away a year ago. But when she finds a pack of dusty old tarot cards at school and begins to give scarily accurate readings to the girls in her class, she realizes she’s has finally found her gift at last. Things are looking up until she discovers a strange card in the deck that definitely shouldn’t be there. And two days after she convinces her ex-best friend to have a reading, she disappears. Can Maeve, her new friend Fiona and Lily’s brother Roe find her? And will their special talents be enough to bring Lily back, before she’s gone for good?

The storyline was very strong, and it was an easy and interesting read. I loved the tarot cards aspect bit of it with the hint of witchiness. Maeve is such a badass even for how confused she can be during this book. I loved that Fiona was such a supportive best friend even when Maeve was ready to give up. The LGBT aspect of this book warms my heart with the love stories and Maeve’s sister being gay. The attacks that happened on Roe and Jo drove me absolutely nuts and made me angry. I love that Caroline wasn’t afraid to talk about serious subjects within a young adult book such as the divorce being taboo in Ireland etc.

With this being a YA, there were a few things that was predictable, however I still enjoyed it thoroughly. Also, I slightly lost interest during the middle of the books, I think I was expecting Lily to come back, or something happen which then led to the next event. I knew that Lily’s disappearance was the main event but with the several aspects and several suspects, I was hoping it would go on to something bigger.

The cliffhanger was mean, and the mystery and mental aspect of Lily makes me want to read more and to start the next book in the series.

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theoriginalbookdragon's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

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