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marmaladereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
However the plot is quite thin. It took probably 60% of the book for the plot to truly emerge, and when it did finally all come together, I found it somewhat underwhelming. Characters that were pretty interesting as individuals in earlier chapters kind of fell apart in terms of character depth and personality when they were thrown into group situations in later chapters, and a lot of the relationships lacked the emotional charge that should have come with long awaited reunions and the revelations that came with them. A lot of the big mysteries set up throughout the book also fell kind of flat for me when they were finally revealed.
Overall I would rate this book 5 stars for vibes and 2 stars for plot.
Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Police brutality, Abandonment, and Deportation
accidentallyinspace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
However, the actual characters and plot developments I cannot wrap my head around. It often feels like characters make decisions that go against their interests or character simply to move the plot along, or they experience tragic loss and death and start joking around 10 minutes later. It honestly feels as if maybe 15% of the scenes / time in this story have been cut away, with the remainder stitched together, so that things just hitch and jump from one development to the next leaving you with this profound sense of vertigo and confusion.
The worst of these (spoiler):
Later, they dump his body unceremoniously in front of Go, toss off some shit about him trying to kill Ankit without any explanation, and then almost immediately ask for Go's help rescuing their mother. Which Go agrees to. Nothing in this sequence makes sense from any of these characters, other than Dao.
So... Yeah. Enjoy the world, struggle through the plot.
Graphic: Murder
sweetpotatofries's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Genocide and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Mental illness and Murder
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
aardwyrm'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder