elwirax's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Rep- POC, lesbian mc, bisexual mc, gay mc, Black mc
"My father would say avoiding a problem is adding interest to a loan you cannot afford."
Heists, prison breaks, LGBT+ and POC main characters? Seems like everything I'd enjoy and while I wasn't fully dissapointed, I admit my expectations were a little too high ( such as they are with any book remotely similar to Six of Crows, unfortunately). I've grown a lot more picky with my reading and this one didn't really hit the mark for me.
Camille and Ada where the most fleshed out characters as they are the alternating narrators throughout the book. I didn't find Camille all that likeable and questioned why Ada gave up so much to be with her and why other characters kept confessing their romantic feelings for her. While I appreciated the LGBTQ+ rep, I feel like Camille fell into the " cheating bisexual" stereotype which was distasteful. However, in some way, I think this made her complex as she reflected the imperfect nature of humans. Fortunately, I liked Ada more but as a whole neither of the two were particularly memorable.
Guillaume (the deserter) and Al (the aristocrat in hiding) were interesting characters but they did not recieve as much development as Camille and Ada which is a shame because I particularly came to like Al's banter and the moments of fun he provided through some darker areas in the book.
Olympe was another character who felt underdeveloped despite being the main focus. Hopefully their characterisation is better developed in the next books.
An issue I had with Dangerous Remedy was that some of the wording was too modern for the time period ( I'm pretty sure there was a mention of a taxi at one point...in 1700s France).The setting wasn't established as well as it could have which disconnected me from the historical element of this book. The French Revolution is already a time period rarely explored in YA which is what initially intrigued to read this book but the world building felt flat.
Overall, Dangerous Remedy had an interesting premise with political intrigue and a great group of characters. It was a solid read especially for a debut, I liked the writing and I think Dunn has great potential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Addiction and Confinement
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