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nose_in_a_book's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
🌶️🌶️
As someone who is disabled, I love representations of disability in all forms, including the messy ones where characters make the wrong choices. This wasn’t a book that was attempting to do that. It was trauma porn. This book is based on deeply problematic, one-dimensional stereotypes of being disabled. Every scene that the FMC has with another person has threads of toxicity choking the life out of it. There is not a single scene where someone isn’t harassing/ignoring her boundaries, or where she isn’t doing the same thing to the MMC. Even the people attempting to show her kindness do so in a way that is violating.
As someone who is disabled, I love representations of disability in all forms, including the messy ones where characters make the wrong choices. This wasn’t a book that was attempting to do that. It was trauma porn. This book is based on deeply problematic, one-dimensional stereotypes of being disabled. Every scene that the FMC has with another person has threads of toxicity choking the life out of it. There is not a single scene where someone isn’t harassing/ignoring her boundaries, or where she isn’t doing the same thing to the MMC. Even the people attempting to show her kindness do so in a way that is violating.
This is a story of a girl in desperate need of the therapist she fired who uses her toxically learned behaviors to force a man into a relationship that is emotionally abusive at best. Dark romance works because it functions under certain rules that make the reader feel safe while exploring darker topics. Not only was this not presented as dark romance, there were no guard rails here. Nothing was off limits and it left me in a state of being constantly on guard for what line would be crossed next. I held out hope that maybe character growth was the final destination but the toxic habits carried us all the way to the end until we were also adding on ham-fisted racism to the already stifling pile of issues.
It seems like the author’s other books are contemporary so maybe some of this comes from writing outside their genre for the first time but I will never know for certain. I won’t be reading anything else they write. I don’t recommend this book but if you do choose to read it, please look at the trigger warnings.
Let me leave you with this, the ultimate tumblr sad girl quote from the book itself: “We float in a pool of our own despair; we float in a pool of sorrow. And also in a pool that belongs to Mack. Or his dad, more specifically.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Medical trauma
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcoholism
art_books_chemistry's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Stalking
Moderate: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, and Alcohol
wandering_seal's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Oft well this was an emotional roller coaster!
I don't think I was expecting this story to be as funny as it was - it's not a funny story, it's romantic, claustrophobic, and at times very, very sad - but Cat Wynn's punny fish moments throughout just had me laughing. Literally ended on a laugh.
I went into this already liking Wynn's writing, and I was intrigued as to how she would approach a monster romance. I love that the 'monsters' aren't monsters at all, they're kind, loving, fragile people who have just started to look different on the outside, and the only 'monstrous' characters are the humans that attempt to manipulate and abuse them. There is dark subject matter here, but it's never the fish people causing it.
This felt to me like classic science fiction, where the world just exists as it does and we just have to go along with it. A lot is left unexplained -the origins of the fish transformations, how Fishkiller1234 and the others found out about them, what the company they worked for was actually up to , for example. Personally I liked that. We only knew what Jules knew, and Jules was not a particularly curious person. That lack of curiosity makes sense within her story arc. I do wish we'd had a greater insight into who Mack was, and that we'd been able to spend more time with them settling into their relationship (basically I want more of Mack's chat because it was gooood).
I hope Wynn writes more in this multiverse - bring on the shadow people!
I read an advance copy of this book, my thoughts here are very much my own.
I don't think I was expecting this story to be as funny as it was - it's not a funny story, it's romantic, claustrophobic, and at times very, very sad - but Cat Wynn's punny fish moments throughout just had me laughing. Literally ended on a laugh.
I went into this already liking Wynn's writing, and I was intrigued as to how she would approach a monster romance. I love that the 'monsters' aren't monsters at all, they're kind, loving, fragile people who have just started to look different on the outside, and the only 'monstrous' characters are the humans that attempt to manipulate and abuse them. There is dark subject matter here, but it's never the fish people causing it.
This felt to me like classic science fiction, where the world just exists as it does and we just have to go along with it. A lot is left unexplained -
I hope Wynn writes more in this multiverse - bring on the shadow people!
I read an advance copy of this book, my thoughts here are very much my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Blood, and Vomit
katetravelsinbooks's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
This book is a bit darker than the usual monster romance but i really enjoyed it. It was funny (fish daddy). And sweet ( I found you in this world. I can find you in any other world too. It’s not the end) and suspenseful. I loved how relatable the fmc is and her mental health issues. Kate is also the bff everyone deserves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Death of parent
noriboo's review
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
4.0
Steamy, mildly angsty, an mmc that makes me look at fish tanks differently and an agoraphobic fmc that displays a smidge of unhinged, obsessive behaviour: I liked it!
The author is a star in writing characters that are incredibly likeable despite their flaws and that are very hard to say goodbye to once the story has ended.
I would have liked to know more about the multiverse and more about Jules' bestie, Kate, and her 4 boyfriends. How did the fish people end up on earth/ in that specific universe? Needless to say, I wouldn't be mad if the author ever decided to add more interconnected stories to this universe!
The author is a star in writing characters that are incredibly likeable despite their flaws and that are very hard to say goodbye to once the story has ended.
I would have liked to know more about the multiverse and more about Jules' bestie, Kate, and her 4 boyfriends. How did the fish people end up on earth/ in that specific universe? Needless to say, I wouldn't be mad if the author ever decided to add more interconnected stories to this universe!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, and Xenophobia
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