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lolajh's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
FOUND FUCKING FAMILY!!!! Wow this trope was done so beautifully, and so many lesbians, so many cool backstories, so many traumatised kids having to try and survive in the middle of the desert. But before that, it’s just a witch and a magician trying the save the fate of a town in this same desert whilst there’s a spread of a terminal virus going around. This witch and magician end up being kicked out into the desert which is where they meet their found family, a gang of kids just like them. The fate of the town and everyone outside of it rests upon these kids, and the whole mystery of the plot being explored was quite cool and I feel really satisfied with the ending. There are also two wlw relationships that were both so lovely, and one straight relationship as well that wasn’t the worst the straights can get I guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Murder
melaniereadsbooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don't know why I took so long to write this review? Now I only remember vibes, but I really enjoyed this book! It's super tense and mysterious and I loved all the different elements woven together throughout. I instantly went and bought the author's other book, so I clearly loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Blood
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and Medical content
Minor: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
5.0
This was so much fun!!
Elysium Girls is a Dust Bowl inspired fantasy of a town that's trapped in a game between life and death deities. The inhabitants of Elysium are pitted against the supernatural to judge humanity. The end of the ten years is coming up soon when the town will be judged. But things aren't going smoothly for Elysium. A small mistake could lead the town to ruin while various illnesses are running rampant through the population.
This book focuses on two main characters: Sal, a girl who is plagued with false visions of rain, and Asa, a demon sent from the Life deity in order to win the game. When Sal is picked as Madame Morevna's successor, she thinks she's finally had the chance to prove she's a leader. Asa is granted entrance to Elysium with supplies for the town. But when these two clash in a duel meant to show Sal is the superior witch, both of them are exiled from the town. They find a group of girls headed by one of the only other Elysium exiles, a witch named Olivia Rosales.
Y'all I didn't think I was going to love this one as much as I did. I knew I would enjoy it, but damn I fell so hard for these characters. I loved both Sal and Asa, their dual POVs worked so well for this story. Both of them have a small romantic subplot, Asa's being more prominent, but overall the focus of this book is friendship, solidarity and winning the unwinnable game of Life and Death.
The cast of characters are diverse and relatable. My favorite side character who is focused on is Lucy. She doesn't get as much page time as Sal or Asa, but her scenes were important. Lucy is a Black lesbian and even in Elysium where things like race, gender or sexuality matter less, Lucy still feels ostracized. She also does a great job of pointing out how this society is supposed to be feminist and matriarchal, but the same limitations on women still exist and enforce gender roles. Lucy acts as a nurse when a strange plague breaks out in Elysium. I cannot tell you how much courage, strength and compassion Lucy has. I loved her so much.
I absolutely loved the girl gang in the desert vibes. Plus the fact that it's a coven of witches makes it even better. I loved this group so much. Sal becomes stronger for joining them and I loved watching her grow and become more confident. I do wish we got to see more of Sal and Lucy together, because I loved them so much. I am going to take the open ending as they do get together when they're ready, but I wouldn't be mad if this had happened on page.
Overall, this is a new favorite. I'm definitely going to be screaming about this one for now on.
Rep: white sapphic female MC, Black lesbian female side character, lesbian female side character, Mexican female side character, Comanche female side character.
CWs: Blood, death, death of parent (past mention), grief, murder, misogyny, racism, sexism, sexual harassment, terminal illness (plague type sickness), violence, xenophobia. Moderate: Colonisation, genocide, kidnapping (mentions of boarding schools Native children were sent to), cannibalism, medical content. Minor: Forced institutionalization, confinement, child abuse.
Elysium Girls is a Dust Bowl inspired fantasy of a town that's trapped in a game between life and death deities. The inhabitants of Elysium are pitted against the supernatural to judge humanity. The end of the ten years is coming up soon when the town will be judged. But things aren't going smoothly for Elysium. A small mistake could lead the town to ruin while various illnesses are running rampant through the population.
This book focuses on two main characters: Sal, a girl who is plagued with false visions of rain, and Asa, a demon sent from the Life deity in order to win the game. When Sal is picked as Madame Morevna's successor, she thinks she's finally had the chance to prove she's a leader. Asa is granted entrance to Elysium with supplies for the town. But when these two clash in a duel meant to show Sal is the superior witch, both of them are exiled from the town. They find a group of girls headed by one of the only other Elysium exiles, a witch named Olivia Rosales.
Y'all I didn't think I was going to love this one as much as I did. I knew I would enjoy it, but damn I fell so hard for these characters. I loved both Sal and Asa, their dual POVs worked so well for this story. Both of them have a small romantic subplot, Asa's being more prominent, but overall the focus of this book is friendship, solidarity and winning the unwinnable game of Life and Death.
The cast of characters are diverse and relatable. My favorite side character who is focused on is Lucy. She doesn't get as much page time as Sal or Asa, but her scenes were important. Lucy is a Black lesbian and even in Elysium where things like race, gender or sexuality matter less, Lucy still feels ostracized. She also does a great job of pointing out how this society is supposed to be feminist and matriarchal, but the same limitations on women still exist and enforce gender roles. Lucy acts as a nurse when a strange plague breaks out in Elysium. I cannot tell you how much courage, strength and compassion Lucy has. I loved her so much.
I absolutely loved the girl gang in the desert vibes. Plus the fact that it's a coven of witches makes it even better. I loved this group so much. Sal becomes stronger for joining them and I loved watching her grow and become more confident. I do wish we got to see more of Sal and Lucy together, because I loved them so much. I am going to take the open ending as they do get together when they're ready, but I wouldn't be mad if this had happened on page.
Overall, this is a new favorite. I'm definitely going to be screaming about this one for now on.
Rep: white sapphic female MC, Black lesbian female side character, lesbian female side character, Mexican female side character, Comanche female side character.
CWs: Blood, death, death of parent (past mention), grief, murder, misogyny, racism, sexism, sexual harassment, terminal illness (plague type sickness), violence, xenophobia. Moderate: Colonisation, genocide, kidnapping (mentions of boarding schools Native children were sent to), cannibalism, medical content. Minor: Forced institutionalization, confinement, child abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Genocide, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization
bluejayreads's review
On the outside, this book looks awesome. Title? Awesome. Author’s last name? Awesome. Cover? Awesome. A demon in disguise and a girl-gang of witches making magic-mechanical horses to take on Life and Death? Awesome.
The reality of the story is, unfortunately, less awesome.
Above all, it is slow. It’s not even a slow burn, it’s just slow. Sal is hated by the whole town for having visions of rain that didn’t come true (which, first of all, she was nine years old at the time, and it seems cruel and petty for the entire town to turn against a literal child for believing something untrue). She thinks she’s finally going to be able to prove herself to the town when Mother Moreyna names her as her successor, but then it turns out Mother Moreyna just wanted a successor for the optics and she isn’t going to actually teach Sal anything. Then Asa shows up, who also has magic because he’s a demon.
Sal does many things that I think could have counted as a “terrible mistake” that would get her exiled, especially if the town decides to be strict and petty – which they definitely seem inclined to do. I kept waiting for one of them to finally make the people kick her out so we could get on with the awesome part of the plot. And it just kept not happening. Sal kept puttering around town wishing people would stop hating her, Asa tried to decide if he should do the mission he was sent for or not do it and stay with the humans he’s so interested in, and nothing happened.
There were a fair number of plot hooks (what actually happened to the murdered guy who used to live in Asa’s house? Why does Sal keep getting visions of rain? What is the point of Asa’s mission?), and I think they might have been enough to hold me if I wasn’t expecting something totally epic that the first 29% of the book didn’t deliver. It may get more awesome later on, and I’m not discounting the idea that I might pick this one back up when I’m in the mood for something slower or have the patience to wait for the awesomeness to start. But right now I don’t, so I’m leaving it here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Murder
strange_little_ranger's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Sexual harassment