Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Babylove

I.S. Belle brought such an interesting and curious world to live!
Buldeen feels like a place anything can happen but only in the one way you didn't want that thing to happen and that makes for amazingly horrifying adventures.
Ivy and Frankie are such interesting characters and getting to see their relationship change is so good!

I don't know what else to say other then if you're looking for queer horror books that won't let you go, then 10/10 check this out!!

Content Warnings

tofugal's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

This is advertised as “Perfect for people who wanted The Craft to be sapphic” (um, yes please!), but I think it’s better described as a sapphic spin on Pet Sematary. Frankie and Ivy were both lovable and well rounded. I’m a sucker for goth gal/cheerleader pairings and immediately rooted for them to become a couple. The world building was fun and creepy. Definitely a great Halloween read! My only tiny nitpick is that there were a few short shifts from Frankie’s POV to omnipotent POV that weren’t necessary, and I think the story would have been stronger without them. Content Warning for animal death, but if you’re picking up a book with a zombie cat, you probably suspected as much.

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micaelacccc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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bladelikesbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

5.0

BabyLove is a dark sapphic horror novella set in the same universe as Zombabe.

Introduced as a prequel to Zombabe but can be read as a separate series imo. I read this before reading Zombabe and it is the first novella in, I believe, a 3 novella series that is set in the same universe as Zombabe.

*SPOILER REVIEW*

Firstly, I appreciate the author including content warnings at the start, I did add a few more of my own so pls check those out at the end of my review. I loved the inclusion of the Christina Rossetti Goblin Market quote - that’s my fave poem (yes it’s because of doctor who).

Spooky sapphics raising the dead? Yes please! I loved this so much and even though I read it without knowing it was connected to Zombabe, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on any context. I related massively with the main character, and I sympathised with her a lot. She’s an awkwardly shy goth kid who’s an outcast and a closeted lesbian. Her relationship with her sister really upset me because it’s the exact same relationship I had with my sister when I was Frankie’s age.

I know most people aren’t going to understand their relationship and will just label April a horrible person and will be confused when her personality does a 180 at the end but I completely get it. They’re both struggling with their home life and they take it out on each other cos they’re too terrified of their parents but at the end of the day they will be the most comforting person for each other. (I genuinely cried at the end when Frankie crawled into April’s bed bc I used to do that too)

I’m usually not a fan of the grumpy x sunshine trope but I quite liked Ivy and Frankie’s duality. What I mean is that to everyone else Ivy is very much the sunshine character but to Frankie, she feels safe enough to show her sadness and her struggles. And the same with Frankie, to everyone else she seems like a moody aggressive teenager but when she’s with Ivy she feels safe enough to show her warmer side.

I think the author did a good job of world building and giving a short history of the town even though this was a novella and I thought the plot was done pretty well since they had a clear plot point, like a clear goal to achieve.

While I did really enjoy most aspects of this, I did hate how complacent Ivy was in her boyfriend ruthlessly bullying Frankie. I don’t care that she was afraid of losing her status, she should have made more of an effort to protect Frankie.

You can definitely tell this is part of a series, and I am glad there will be more novellas because there’s so much more I’d like to see the author explore. Like I want to know more about who or what that creepy figure is, I’d like to see Frankie and April healing their relationship, and I’d like to see an actual apology from Ivy for allowing the bullying to continue.

Tropes - Grumpy x Sunshine; Small town

Representation - Bisexual (LI); Fat (BGC); Lesbian (MC)

TWs/CWs - Animal Death; Blood; Bullying; Child Death; Child Harm; Cussing; Death; Death of a loved one (past); Drug Use (weed); Fatphobia (reference to); Gore; Gun Violence; Smoking; Swearing; Vomit

Content Warnings

shutupste's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

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