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itsatyepo'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic
peroxide_princes'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Cursing
lil_goblin'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Kidnapping
princegene95's review against another edition
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Genocide, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Kidnapping
biancafrancisco'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
4.0
The way the books touches so many themes - genocide (quite relevant to today), religious as a tool of imperialism and oppression vs individual expression, eco-facism, the weaponization of ideology to frighten people into obeying, a contageous virus, trans experiences, and the MC's relationship with his body, how it is gendered but also through its mutation (this is done in a very reflective and surprisingly tender way) - and a ton more, was really interesting.
The three things it could have done well with were:
1. A better fleshed out world, it seemed a bit weird that we barely knew what was happening outside the city and that even within it was like only a group of teens and some kind of nationalist type group existed;
2. Better fleshed out characters, in the middle of all the action I feel like there was a tiny scene or two thrown in there about them hanging out and getting along, but we barely saw any of their personalities beyond "this is their sexuality/identity, this is their ethnicity and here is one personality trait". I recognize this can be hard with so much else going on, and it is a debut so I'm confident their next works might improve on it;
3. It really bothered me that, for people who have been surviving for 2 years in shitty conditions, they showed zero attempts to improvise and adapt?? Are you telling me they couldn't have made reusable pads (this one really stood out to me) or any type of agriculture, etc? One of the kids came from a doom prepper family! And either way, people are nifty and crafty and it would've been so interesting to see the ways the ALC organized and became self sufficient. It just seemed really unrealistic that they basically depended only on the Vanguard's supplies. Also, the initial "there's not really anyone in charge here, we're all contributing" was such pandering to this idea of an anarchist community when during the rest of the book no one, besides the Watch a bit, had any say in any decision - might as well have kept that out. I understand these weren't the main themes the book was meant to focus on but it wouldn't have been that hard to add a thing here or there to make it more plausible.
These weren't egregious enough to bother my reading experience. On the contrary, I loved reading this book and did it almost all in one sitting. The message came across really well and I liked the premise and setting of the world. It kind of reminded me of The Last of Us - gory but very meaningful. There was so much love in this story and a lot of moments stuck with me.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Colonisation and Classism
refrejarator'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
winterhartarts'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: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
fozlandgirl'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
wheelyautistic'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
mixmousereads'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
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Dysphoria