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cakeylu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
What a fascinatingly constructed story, and so surprisingly moving. At the beginning, I didn't expect to grow to care about the characters so much but well before the end I was so invested in their fates that I couldn't stop thinking about what might happen.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt
sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I’m sorry. I know from all the reviews this is a much beloved book but it just wasn’t for me. I had high expectations: initially when I saw this book floating around I thought it was nonfiction due to the title and cover. After realizing it’s fiction and about time travelers falling in love, I was excited! Unfortunately, the writing was too sparse and I did not feel much for the characters, making it made it a very difficult read.
I think my biggest issue might be my disinterest in science fiction. I am always trying to reach outside my comfort zone and read genres I may not consider. In this case, the characters were so science fiction they didn’t feel human, although I think that was the point? I think? I genuinely don’t know if they were supposed to be nonhuman or just futuristic humans.
I really struggled with the writing. There were some very beautiful sentences but it was not cohesive and felt confusing. This also made me sad because normally I love wordy books and reading between the lines, but here I just felt frustrated because I didn’t feel any sense of a plot. Again, maybe it’s just not my cup of tea, but the fact that there was so much time jumping between letters and points in their lives didn’t help me see how their relationship developed over time (this is ironic for a time traveler story, I know).
Overall, I would recommend this to fans of science fiction and queer literature. Maybe only people I am acquainted with, though, I don’t think I could ever recommend this to a friend.
I think my biggest issue might be my disinterest in science fiction. I am always trying to reach outside my comfort zone and read genres I may not consider. In this case, the characters were so science fiction they didn’t feel human, although I think that was the point? I think? I genuinely don’t know if they were supposed to be nonhuman or just futuristic humans.
I really struggled with the writing. There were some very beautiful sentences but it was not cohesive and felt confusing. This also made me sad because normally I love wordy books and reading between the lines, but here I just felt frustrated because I didn’t feel any sense of a plot. Again, maybe it’s just not my cup of tea, but the fact that there was so much time jumping between letters and points in their lives didn’t help me see how their relationship developed over time (this is ironic for a time traveler story, I know).
Overall, I would recommend this to fans of science fiction and queer literature. Maybe only people I am acquainted with, though, I don’t think I could ever recommend this to a friend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement and Colonisation
ebp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War
Moderate: Torture, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Confinement
dreadspawn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture
skillyillian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I expected this to be way harder to understand, based off of what everyone else has said about it, but honestly??? It wasn't that difficult to parse out what was happening. The prose is beyond stellar. I loved every minute of this. It was like extended slam poetry. The narrators for the audiobook did a phenomenal job. Just the right amount of romance, mystery, time travel, wordplay, horniness, betrayal, scifi nonsense, and more. Loved it. Loved loved loved. The description of the place Red goes at the end had me scratching my head but in that scifi way where you just go with it because trying to picture it simply won't work if you're sober.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
cicizzy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
„I can hide in words so long as I scatter them through my body; to read your letters is to gather flowers from within myself, pluck a blossom here, a fern there, arrange and rearrange them in ways to suit a sunny room.“
This book just feels like pure art. I loved reading the story even though the writing style could also be challenging at times. The story itself is very mysterious and doesn’t really answer any questions. You just have to go with the flow. But it didn’t bother me at all, it just created a mysterious atmosphere that gave the words even more opportunity to shine.
This will be a story I can reread and always find discover new with each read.
This book just feels like pure art. I loved reading the story even though the writing style could also be challenging at times. The story itself is very mysterious and doesn’t really answer any questions. You just have to go with the flow. But it didn’t bother me at all, it just created a mysterious atmosphere that gave the words even more opportunity to shine.
This will be a story I can reread and always find discover new with each read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Confinement, Death, Torture, and Stalking
weigel_brianna's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- 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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide attempt and War
anni_o's review against another edition
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
I recommend you do not read what this is about before you start.
The style is poetic, beautiful but also a bit confusing at times. This did not hinder me from falling in love with both of them pretty much from the start. The romance hit me with a club from behind (i was the whacked seal), not because I was necessarily surprised by it, I am very familiar with enemies to lovers as a trope, but more because I was stunned how much INTO IT I was. My lesbian darlings, red in blue, blue in red, I- gods.
Anyway.
I adored reading this. Admit to needing the audiobook next to the book because I had difficulty concentrating, but that is probably just me (being non-native english speaking). The audiobook had GREAT voice actors tbh, very well-chosen.
I finished and I wanted to read it again. I cried. I gasped. I was giddy at some of the references.
I recommend if you read this to read it in one sitting, just completely engross yourself in it.
Loved the world, the two mains and how their way of interaction and how they write their letters showed so much about them.
Big recommendation from me, my kinda book, five stars straight up.
The style is poetic, beautiful but also a bit confusing at times. This did not hinder me from falling in love with both of them pretty much from the start. The romance hit me with a club from behind (i was the whacked seal), not because I was necessarily surprised by it, I am very familiar with enemies to lovers as a trope, but more because I was stunned how much INTO IT I was. My lesbian darlings, red in blue, blue in red, I- gods.
Anyway.
I adored reading this. Admit to needing the audiobook next to the book because I had difficulty concentrating, but that is probably just me (being non-native english speaking). The audiobook had GREAT voice actors tbh, very well-chosen.
I finished and I wanted to read it again. I cried. I gasped. I was giddy at some of the references.
I recommend if you read this to read it in one sitting, just completely engross yourself in it.
Loved the world, the two mains and how their way of interaction and how they write their letters showed so much about them.
Big recommendation from me, my kinda book, five stars straight up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Confinement
mikathereviewer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This was one of my most anticipated books for this month and I am so disappointed.
The following will only be a rant about the book. Nothing good I found except that we got an explanation that "Steganography is hidden writing." and that the ending was interesting.
As always; I respect opinions from others and therefore expect the same to be done to me. If you liked the book, so be it. I don't have anything against your opinion or rating to this book.
First of all the letter beginnings are so weird and cringe sometimes. Especially these references. When I understood it right the 'Dearest Blue-da-ba-dee,' is a reference of this one annoying frog song and we also get other cringe-worthy references like 'Dearest 0000FF' (colour hexcode, you all can't legit call this cute or romantic) and of course our so 'cool' flex with languages 'My dear Miskowaanzhe' which is Anishinaabemowin 'cause of course the author totally speaks that language and didn't translate this on full purpose to sound so 'cool'.
The whole writing was always the same, no matter which character wrote the letter and therefore it was sometimes hard to distinguish the two. Both therefore seemed also flat and we only get trauma dumping in the most inappropriate ways. They both also wrote almost since the beginning like they knew eachother since ages and not like strangers that form a bond over time, which made it unrealistic for me to belive that they later on fell in love.
The writing style was also unbearable to me. It was often poetically written but in either cringe or way to melodramatic ways.
Examples
1. ‘Have you ever had a hunger that whetted itself on what you fed it, sharpened so keen and bright that it might split you open, break a new thing out?
Sometimes I think that’s what I have instead of friends.’
2. ‘I have been birds and branches. I have been bees and wolves. I have been ether flooding the void between stars, tangling their breath into networks of song. I have been fish and plankton and humus, and all these have been me.’
3. ‘I want to be a body for you.
I want to chase you, find you, I want to be eluded and teased and adored; I want to be defeated and victorious—I want you to cut me, sharpen me.’
I also never understood or rather we never got told what kind of creatures they both are. Even though it's science fiction, we barely get any of it. And we get almost no other explanations like how certain things worked like the ways with the MRI machine and stuff as that was their way of sending letter without being caught.
If the writing style would have been different and we would have got more explanations of things I might would have enjoyed the book more. But the whole book felt like a sketch that wasn't supposed to be published yet.
Wasn't for me, but perhaps someone else would like this story and its characters.
July 17, 2024
The following will only be a rant about the book. Nothing good I found except that we got an explanation that "Steganography is hidden writing." and that the ending was interesting.
As always; I respect opinions from others and therefore expect the same to be done to me. If you liked the book, so be it. I don't have anything against your opinion or rating to this book.
First of all the letter beginnings are so weird and cringe sometimes. Especially these references. When I understood it right the 'Dearest Blue-da-ba-dee,' is a reference of this one annoying frog song and we also get other cringe-worthy references like 'Dearest 0000FF' (colour hexcode, you all can't legit call this cute or romantic) and of course our so 'cool' flex with languages 'My dear Miskowaanzhe' which is Anishinaabemowin 'cause of course the author totally speaks that language and didn't translate this on full purpose to sound so 'cool'.
The whole writing was always the same, no matter which character wrote the letter and therefore it was sometimes hard to distinguish the two. Both therefore seemed also flat and we only get trauma dumping in the most inappropriate ways. They both also wrote almost since the beginning like they knew eachother since ages and not like strangers that form a bond over time, which made it unrealistic for me to belive that they later on fell in love.
The writing style was also unbearable to me. It was often poetically written but in either cringe or way to melodramatic ways.
Examples
1. ‘Have you ever had a hunger that whetted itself on what you fed it, sharpened so keen and bright that it might split you open, break a new thing out?
Sometimes I think that’s what I have instead of friends.’
2. ‘I have been birds and branches. I have been bees and wolves. I have been ether flooding the void between stars, tangling their breath into networks of song. I have been fish and plankton and humus, and all these have been me.’
3. ‘I want to be a body for you.
I want to chase you, find you, I want to be eluded and teased and adored; I want to be defeated and victorious—I want you to cut me, sharpen me.’
I also never understood or rather we never got told what kind of creatures they both are. Even though it's science fiction, we barely get any of it. And we get almost no other explanations like how certain things worked like the ways with the MRI machine and stuff as that was their way of sending letter without being caught.
If the writing style would have been different and we would have got more explanations of things I might would have enjoyed the book more. But the whole book felt like a sketch that wasn't supposed to be published yet.
Wasn't for me, but perhaps someone else would like this story and its characters.
July 17, 2024
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Abandonment
fynm's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
complicated to read and tough go get into at first, but once u get the hang of it, it‘s actually quite sweet
pretty dramatic writing tho, idk why they write their letters so out of character and posh
P.S. for a book about and with letters in it, it‘s really good
pretty dramatic writing tho, idk why they write their letters so out of character and posh
P.S. for a book about and with letters in it, it‘s really good
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt