pipn_t's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
The narrator was great.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
cryptidstar's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a solid YA fantasy, don’t get me wrong. I think it has some strong elements as well as some it could’ve executed better. But overall, I did enjoy reading it. I finished it in a day.
The queer representation was good. I empathized with Wyatt—his self-loathing, his anger, his tendency to lash out instead of facing his emotions, and his selfishness—even when he frustrated me SO MUCH.
I did like a lot of the secondary characters as well, but overall it seemed like the author was so focused on examining Wyatt’s internal struggles that not enough focus was spent on making any of the other characters very nuanced or multi-dimensional. (Tessa’s arc is, I think, meant to involve growth and development, but it comes across more as a clumsy and sudden about face.)
I also didn’t think the author did a good enough job of making us understand why Emyr found a marriage to Wyatt so necessary that he was willing to force him into it under penalty of death. It just didn’t feel fleshed out enough to read as believable, which gave the entire premise of the story a sort-of unmoored quality. (Maybe multiple POVs would have helped here?)
Plus I felt like a lot of the plot development got squished into the last 20% or so of the book, making it read very much like an attempt to quickly tie up lose ends and insert twists where they didn’t feel necessarily natural just to set up the events of the second book. (The big “aha!” moment at the end when the villain is confronted felt very similar to the end of a Scooby-Doo episode: “and I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”)
Finally, a lot about the way witches in this story are born to (and subsequently rejected by) Fae families seemed to be an allegory for the queer experience, especially when at one point, that similarity is explicitly pointed out on page by Wyatt.
You have the Fae (conservative) businesses refusing service to the witches, then the guard (police) siding with the Fae when they protest/incite violence against witches using language most readers would immediately associate with white supremacists.
But at the same time, this allegory breaks apart when you consider this magical realm is also supposed to exist WITHIN the current, human world (and that there also exist Fae queer people). If an allegory is meant to be a fictional representation of a real-world people, institution, or concept, how can that allegory exist in a fictional story where the very real thing it’s meant to be representing ALSO exists? So maybe it’s not meant to be allegory at all, I don’t know, but I found my confusion over it very distracting as I was reading.
The queer representation was good. I empathized with Wyatt—his self-loathing, his anger, his tendency to lash out instead of facing his emotions, and his selfishness—even when he frustrated me SO MUCH.
I did like a lot of the secondary characters as well, but overall it seemed like the author was so focused on examining Wyatt’s internal struggles that not enough focus was spent on making any of the other characters very nuanced or multi-dimensional. (Tessa’s arc is, I think, meant to involve growth and development, but it comes across more as a clumsy and sudden about face.)
I also didn’t think the author did a good enough job of making us understand why Emyr found a marriage to Wyatt so necessary that he was willing to force him into it under penalty of death. It just didn’t feel fleshed out enough to read as believable, which gave the entire premise of the story a sort-of unmoored quality. (Maybe multiple POVs would have helped here?)
Plus I felt like a lot of the plot development got squished into the last 20% or so of the book, making it read very much like an attempt to quickly tie up lose ends and insert twists where they didn’t feel necessarily natural just to set up the events of the second book. (The big “aha!” moment at the end when the villain is confronted felt very similar to the end of a Scooby-Doo episode: “and I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”)
Finally, a lot about the way witches in this story are born to (and subsequently rejected by) Fae families seemed to be an allegory for the queer experience, especially when at one point, that similarity is explicitly pointed out on page by Wyatt.
You have the Fae (conservative) businesses refusing service to the witches, then the guard (police) siding with the Fae when they protest/incite violence against witches using language most readers would immediately associate with white supremacists.
But at the same time, this allegory breaks apart when you consider this magical realm is also supposed to exist WITHIN the current, human world (and that there also exist Fae queer people). If an allegory is meant to be a fictional representation of a real-world people, institution, or concept, how can that allegory exist in a fictional story where the very real thing it’s meant to be representing ALSO exists? So maybe it’s not meant to be allegory at all, I don’t know, but I found my confusion over it very distracting as I was reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Infertility
mxemma's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was enjoyable in some ways, but suffers from a whole lot of tonal dissonance. It felt like every couple of pages we swung from fluffy fanfic romance (there was only one bed!) to horrifying gore and betrayal. The writing itself is beautiful, but I think cutting a few lines and a couple plot-twists would have made the story flow more smoothly and strengthened the book as a whole. They may be setting up the sequel, but the ending felt rather abrupt because of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Racism, Gore, and Hate crime
Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Sexual violence, War, Terminal illness, and Transphobia
Minor: Pregnancy, Dysphoria, and Deadnaming
itsapaxycab's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-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
4.5
I loved this book and it will definitely be one i reccomend to other people. A very sweet story with a strong queer backing, interesting plot, and gripping tension. While i felt the conclusion/reveal was a bit rushed and a little tooo perfect, u still enjoyed the story so much, and loved the enemies to lovers plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Violence
Moderate: Deadnaming and Transphobia
Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, Abandonment, and Death of parent
stormeno's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcohol and Drug use
kai1313's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-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
3.5
Originally rated it a 5 stars after reading, now I rate it a 4 as I read another 5 star read directly after it and started comparing the two experiences. I saw many reviews criticizing the world building, and how it didn’t make sense, or how they didn’t like the main character Wyatt. Personally, I came into it expecting a feel good sappy fantasy with a romance plot, and it provided just that. I didn’t read it for the complex world building and magic system. I read it purely for good vibes and it delivered, which is why I liked it. EDIT: now 3.5 stars after many months.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Police brutality, Abandonment, Colonisation, Homophobia, Murder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Child abuse, and Violence
hilmi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.25
This is an excellent book overall. The plot and world building is enjoyable though the magic system was... Meh? And that's important to me. Some twists I didn't see coming (at least not fully) kept the book interesting throughout. The world building could have been more thorough as well.
Even though I'm always attempting to be an ally, sometimes the outright anger to/hate for cisgender or straight-identifying characters made me have a visceral reaction and I almost dropped the book because I wasn't in the mood to absorb the anger. Then I realized: a) that's a privilege (that I can choose not to be angry) and maybe it would be worth working through my aversion - and it was worth it; and b) historically, trans characters in particular and lgbtq characters at large have been depicted in pretty vile ways so turnabout is fair play.
So, come for the good fiction and the feels.
Even though I'm always attempting to be an ally, sometimes the outright anger to/hate for cisgender or straight-identifying characters made me have a visceral reaction and I almost dropped the book because I wasn't in the mood to absorb the anger. Then I realized: a) that's a privilege (that I can choose not to be angry) and maybe it would be worth working through my aversion - and it was worth it; and b) historically, trans characters in particular and lgbtq characters at large have been depicted in pretty vile ways so turnabout is fair play.
So, come for the good fiction and the feels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
ryankaybee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Transphobia, Racism, Death, and Dysphoria
ratking17's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
Nothing is explicit but does involve the main character so there is a personal point of view.