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annie45's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Biphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
colorcrystals's review against another edition
- 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
The story is presented in two timelines and 3 points of view. Lala is a Romani girl in 1518 forced to hide her heritage and her love for the trans boy her aunt has raised. The second timeline is in the modern day, with our narrators being Emil and Rosella. Emil is Romani, and has purposefully not learned his family’s history to distance himself from it. Rosella is Latina and proud of her family and heritage, but still strives to fit in with the other girls.
I have to be honest, it took a little bit for me to really get into the book. But once I hit like the 50% mark, I was hooked. The prose is absolutely gorgeous. The terms “rich” and “lucious” come to mind. This is a very lyrical, poetic style that made the audiobook particularly nice to listen to. It artfully tackled topics racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia in the most perfect way. The characters were wonderfully developed and multifaceted. My only issue was that it took so long for me to get truly sucked in.
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Classism
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Antisemitism and Pregnancy
zombiezami's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Cultural appropriation
sarahaf712's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Outing, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Biphobia, Genocide, Police brutality, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism
ehmannky'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: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
drp_moonlight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The book alternates between 3 POV characters (Lala, Emil, and Rosella) but the extremely short chapters cut into each character's limited development. On top of that, Alifair (Lala's love interest) was ignored almost until the end. Emil and Rosella are supposed to follow the trope of childhood friends to lovers but there is nothing to actually develop them as such. They barely interact until they are together.
The writing dragged on and on without going anywhere. It took nearly half the pages to get to the plot. I was bored out of my mind half the time. The only time I left my stupor was when McLemore would reuse the phrase "given a girl's name at birth". When I first read this phrase in Rojas, I was enthralled by it's magic but by the 5th time in this book I was annoyed.
The ending was sweet, though unrealistic, but this is a fairytale after all.
In conclusion, read Rojas instead. It's the same plot with better writing and pacing.
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Blood and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
booksthatburn'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? It's complicated
5.0
As a brief aside: it’s fascinating to me that one of the realistic and very believable parts of this book is the dancing plague. They’re real things that have really happened at different times in history (including Strausbourg, 1518), but they fit right into the magical feeling of this story.
The chapters are on the short side and rotate pretty consistently between the three main characters, only breaking the pattern a couple of times. I sometimes felt stymied because just as something really interesting was happening in one section it would end and switch to the next narrator, but towards the end the switches started really working for me and I liked the effect a lot better. It’s a structural choice that leads to some pretty cool transitions between sections as they are thematically linked (two perspectives share a time and the third does not).
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, and Blood
Minor: Ableism, Antisemitism, and Death of parent
CW for ableism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, antisemitism (backstory), racism, blood, parental death (backstory), death.harperhoney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Racism
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Deadnaming, and Hate crime