The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
_rowantree_'s review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Bullying
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, and Child death
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Ableism, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Incest, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Homophobia
reading_warren's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
The only reason this book is rated so highly for me is because of the nostalgia factor. I loved vampire YA as a kid, and I love it now, even when the plot is a little meh, the characters are a little bit one-note and/or stereotypical, and it's (somewhat) diverse at the cost of being pretty racially insensitive (at least from what I can tell as a white person). The one gay character is also not what I would consider exemplary representation. But, it's fun, it's got a little mystery, and it's got vampire school.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence
Child death:nick13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-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
2.25
Ok, let me say this first, this book is not very good. Now that that's over with, let me also say that this book is also really damn good! Not in the good way, but because the writing is so bad it's really enjoyable. One minute characters are cussing and calling people sluts and then the main character says someone is poopy, like, wtf!
Along side this terrible writing, the beginning is so rushed it gives me whiplash and the main character a hollow bitch who thinks they are awful yet amazing! Yet, I enjoyed almost every moment of this book! There are so many things wrong with it and the rip-off of Twilight it starts out as yet the rip-off of Harry Potter it ends as is so bizarre that I can't help but love it. That and the characters, love interests, and the actually kind of intriguing plot at the end just kept hooking me in!
I'm giving this book a 2.25 solely due to the bad pacing, bad writing techniques, and overall terribleness of this book, but I will continue this story because it a 2 star read that feels like a 4!
Along side this terrible writing, the beginning is so rushed it gives me whiplash and the main character a hollow bitch who thinks they are awful yet amazing! Yet, I enjoyed almost every moment of this book! There are so many things wrong with it and the rip-off of Twilight it starts out as yet the rip-off of Harry Potter it ends as is so bizarre that I can't help but love it. That and the characters, love interests, and the actually kind of intriguing plot at the end just kept hooking me in!
I'm giving this book a 2.25 solely due to the bad pacing, bad writing techniques, and overall terribleness of this book, but I will continue this story because it a 2 star read that feels like a 4!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Blood
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Alcohol, Drug use, and Homophobia
arys_library's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I remember reading this book when I was somewhere between 10-12 years old. I absolutely loved it (even though I probably should have waited a few years to read it). So I’m glad I got to pick it up again as an adult. It is a y/a fantasy book and comparing it to what I remember reading as a kid, there are many things I don’t remember reading and enjoying throughout the book, things I focus on more now than then. Even though I’m older, I love it as much as I did when I was young. I do like y/a but this seemed rushed and a little too light for me. I don’t take that as a negative thing in terms of how the book was but if you’re into more graphic and descriptive books in terms of violence, people’s thoughts, and sex, this might not be for you. It’s a part of a pretty big series but the books are super fast paced you could finish all of them very quickly. This first book only takes place over a period of a few days which is why I think it feels rushed. If it were spanned out over a few months, and there was more conflict within the book and not just the ending, I would have loved it more. But I did still love it. I’m definitely going to finish the series over again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Blood, and Death
Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism
booktrotting's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Screaming. What an absolute hot mess this book is; just the thought of the assembly process of this book - a middle aged woman writing the words “boobies” and “poopie” over and over and her 20 yo daughter deciding to keep all of that in in the editing process- absolutely sends me. It is also absolutely crammed full of stuff that absolutely would not fly now - all the teens in this book are absolutely rancid. There’s something mesmerising about this book that keeps you drawn in though, what a wild time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Fatphobia
jonsnowsmanbun's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual content
eleanorryd's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I read these books when I was 12-13? Ish? With my friends and while I didn't love the books as much as my friends did, I thought they were okay. Now, at 21, I definitely don't think they're okay. Zoey is the meanest most unsympathetic and unlikeable main character I have ever read and I absolutely hate that everyone thinks she's the ultimate good guy. She is the chosen, the saviour, the love interest, on top of all of the qualities that are almost given for a YA heroine (humble, pretty, smart, funny, sarcastic). Except, she's not. Her ego is so fucking massive and yet she looks down on other people (mainly Aphrodite) for also having an ego?
There are a bunch of problematic terms just casually thrown in there for no good reason ('retard' is used several time, she uses 'midget' about corn, so I don't know if that counts but it definitely made me cringe), the only lgbtqia+ character is described by his friends as the 'token guy friend of the group' but, eh, yeah, no. The only black character of the main cast is described as looking like an 'African princess' until we learn her name (and that she's not African at all, she's from Connecticut with Jamaican heritage?). The main character's grandma is Cherokee and 'her people' are described as 'barbaric'. I mean, I'm white as they come, but if even I react then that feels like a sign they should have hired (some more) sensitivity readers.
The plot was not good, much like the writing, but that's really all I have to say about that.When tension actually starting building up and the story got closer to its climax, I was actually getting invested and thinking "wow this could actually be something? The stakes seem pretty high right now" but no. They pull the most cliché deus ex machina and all of Zoey's friends show up so she can save the day and look like the hero. After spending half the book talking about how she wanted to 'bring [Aphrodite] down', she then tells Aphrodite that she 'never wanted to win anything'?? That is simply not true. And then Zoey says that they don't have to 'continue playing their roles' and, again, 100 pages ago or something you called her a 'ho' for being comfortable in herself and her sexuality?
Zoey is so mean and judgemental and rather than being 'wise beyond her years' she just acts like everyone's mum Karen and judges all the 'kids today' for being just that - kids. It's so horrible to read and I can't believe I didn't notice it when I was younger - which is exactly the problem! A book aimed at young kids (girls, most likely) tells them that if you're mean to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE (who isn't, like, super-attractive), you're still the good guy. That whole message is huuuugely problematic and absolutely disgusting.
Here is an incomplete list of people Zoey thinks she's better than:
1. Fat people
2. People who condone drinking
3. Her step-dad
4. Her sister
5. Dorks
6. Emos
7. Goths
8. Vampyres
9. Kathy Richter, 'the biggest ho in school'
10. Aphrodite
11. Her mum
12. Enyo, Deino, and whatever the third girl was called (the Wasp)
13. Elliott
14. All of the Dark Sons and Daughters
15. Stevie Rae (geez just let the girl enjoy her cowboy boots)
16. Heath
17. Kayla
18. Aphrodite again
There are a bunch of problematic terms just casually thrown in there for no good reason ('retard' is used several time, she uses 'midget' about corn, so I don't know if that counts but it definitely made me cringe), the only lgbtqia+ character is described by his friends as the 'token guy friend of the group' but, eh, yeah, no. The only black character of the main cast is described as looking like an 'African princess' until we learn her name (and that she's not African at all, she's from Connecticut with Jamaican heritage?). The main character's grandma is Cherokee and 'her people' are described as 'barbaric'. I mean, I'm white as they come, but if even I react then that feels like a sign they should have hired (some more) sensitivity readers.
The plot was not good, much like the writing, but that's really all I have to say about that.
Zoey is so mean and judgemental and rather than being 'wise beyond her years' she just acts like everyone's mum Karen and judges all the 'kids today' for being just that - kids. It's so horrible to read and I can't believe I didn't notice it when I was younger - which is exactly the problem! A book aimed at young kids (girls, most likely) tells them that if you're mean to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE (who isn't, like, super-attractive), you're still the good guy. That whole message is huuuugely problematic and absolutely disgusting.
Here is an incomplete list of people Zoey thinks she's better than:
1. Fat people
2. People who condone drinking
3. Her step-dad
4. Her sister
5. Dorks
6. Emos
7. Goths
8. Vampyres
9. Kathy Richter, 'the biggest ho in school'
10. Aphrodite
11. Her mum
12. Enyo, Deino, and whatever the third girl was called (the Wasp)
13. Elliott
14. All of the Dark Sons and Daughters
15. Stevie Rae (geez just let the girl enjoy her cowboy boots)
16. Heath
17. Kayla
18. Aphrodite again
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Vomit, Sexual content, Death, and Child death
Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Xenophobia
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