The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! đ
lawbooks600's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Score: Seven points out of ten.
Well, first, what's wrong with BookTok? I briefly saw this novel on the BookTok shelf at one of the two libraries I go to but I put it off for a while until I finally picked it up and read it. When I finished it, I felt nothing but dissatisfaction as the story looked so promising, unique and original but when I read it, it was too tedious. It starts with a prologue explaining how the world was nothing out of the ordinary until 'The Rupture,' splitting the world into numerous floating islands called 'Arks.' Then it cuts to the main character Ophelia (whose last name I forgot) living on an ark called Anima but here's the catch: she can travel through mirrors (unfortunately I didn't see much of that, shame.) Here is where the flaws surface, well for a supposedly civilised society it's backward since one of the characters forced Ophelia to marry a predetermined partner (Come on. Really? She should have a choice. But she doesn't. Why?) Did I also mention that I wasn't a fan of how the author wrote the female characters to make them look bad? It sounds discriminatory. The issues don't end there, since the plot is slow (normally that wouldn't be a problem since that would let me explore the characters more, but since the author didn't write them well, it didn't help.) I had to push myself to finish the book, otherwise I would've given it a DNF, but it fizzled out anyway, and I won't finish the series. Shame.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Sexism
Full trigger warnings: Forced marriage, physical assault and injury, blood depiction, sexist slur, cheating mentionedjenny_librarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Jâai lâimpression quâOphĂ©lie est demi-romantique, et Thorn prĂ©sente plusieurs traits autiste. Est-ce voulu? Je nâen sais rien, mais câest ce qui mâa semblĂ© le plus captivant dans ma lecture.
Malheureusement, tous les personnages sont froids et la plupart sont dénués de caractérisation outre des défauts trÚs superficiels qui deviennent leur entiÚre personnalité.
Je ne sais pas non plus si le sous-entendu est intentionnel, mais les âprovinciauxâ semblent avoir un accent quĂ©bĂ©cois et ça me rend mal Ă lâaise. Tout comme les rĂ©fĂ©rences Ă la religion animiste, qui est fondamentalement liĂ©s Ă lâhistoire coloniale et aux peuples africains et autochtones â pour la plupart dĂ©cimĂ©s par les colonies françaises⊠Mâenfin, câest peut-ĂȘtre seulement mon interprĂ©tation de la chose.
Je ne sais pas encore si je vais lire la suite. Ce sont de gros livres avec peu dâaction qui demandent beaucoup de travail cĂ©rĂ©bral pour peu de rĂ©sultats.
Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Child abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Child death, and Sexism
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Rape
ransomoney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book wasnât really for me. almost dnf about half way through. The characters are all very cruel to each other, which makes sense within the setting but I didnât enjoy reading.Â
Also overuse of the word âlugubriousâ
Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Alcohol, Death, Trafficking, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism
midnightgarden's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, and Sexism
Minor: Infertility, Murder, Child death, Gaslighting, and Miscarriage
penofpossibilities's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Graphic: Death, Classism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Abortion, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Murder, Suicide, and Torture
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Genocide, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit
allisonmspiers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Sexism, Alcohol, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
itsreyz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is an extremely slow start to the series, lots of information yet there's somehow even more things left unsaid and unclear. The characters are all two-faced and full of secrets, refuse to communicate - which wouldn't necessarily be a problem but it was just a lot, since it's not what I expected at all.Â
This is a very heavy book to read (tbh, could've been a good 100+ pages shorter), NOT a fun ride, one has to put time and brain power into consuming it.Â
I'll have to wait with continuing the sequels but also I am admittedly very intrigued to know what the fuck is happening because BOY was there a lot in here...
PS.: I ain't joking with the CWs, I might even have left out some, bruh
Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Miscarriage
lokes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
The worldbuilding was a bit sloppy, but interesting, but plot and characters? Icky. Like, really bad.Â
Not only did it have tropes such as forced marriage and hints of pedophilia (as soon as the guy was always called a âman with his big hands; like a father; etcâ and the woman described as âgirl with small hands; being generally very young and clueless and in need of constant helpâ) I had a bad feeling and boy wasnât I wrong.Â
I donât know why so many people like a book which is filled with sexism, weird stereotypes, classism, racism and basically everything you donât want to read about when it is normalized (or rather being glorified, because you just couldnât catch a break when reading. It just kept coming)
I do feel like I need to apologize to the person I am now that I read this book because it wasnât pleasant and I feel like I need to unlearn all of the very harmful stuff I just read about.Â
The writing styleâs not bad though, I could have liked it without the weird content.Â
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Incest, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Child abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, and Confinement
bee_a_friend's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use
Minor: Suicide
amazelan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Sexism, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Classism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Murder, Suicide attempt, Child death, Suicide, Grief, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Vomit, Infertility, and Sexual assault