plumpaperbacks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
So, yeah. Some things worked for me in this book, others didn’t, but overall, I did like it, and I do want to read the second book. I want to see more of Andy and the Lavender House family, and hopefully, I’ll really like it.
Representation:
- gay protagonist
- Mexican lesbian side character
- bisexual Jewish side character
- sapphic side characters
- achillean side characters (one is also Filipino)
- sapphic side couples (f/f)
- achillean side couple (m/m)
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Religious bigotry and Confinement
All things tagged graphic are explicitly on-page, in the form of various homophobic slurs, the protagonist being severely beaten for being queer, and the protagonist thinking numerous times about a suicide plan. He never does follow through, but it’s there all the same. Things tagged minor are in relation to a side character’s backstory, briefly mentioned in one chapter near the end of the book.greywolfheir'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
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, Death, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Homophobia
potatoaficionado's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Police brutality, Outing, Murder, Violence, Homophobia, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Minor: War
kayles514's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Hate crime, Death, and Homophobia
jessiereads98's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The characters here really weren’t fleshed out. We get a peak at each one, and they each seem to be interesting. Unfortunately, we really never get more than an interesting peak before they’re flattened back out and left unexplored. The main character is a recently-outed gay former cop. The story attempts to grapple with his complicity in oppressing his own community a couple times, but ultimately this, like all other character development here, falls off to the wayside. It was difficult to invest in the main character because of the failure of the story to actually confront the main character’s former role as a gay cop, and it was difficult to invest in any other individual character because we didn’t really get to know them either.
The mystery was fairly obvious from the start, so at times it felt like the plot was being drawn out. I think this would’ve been more successful as a fully locked room mystery, rather than bringing in outside suspects for seemingly no reason.
The concept of this book is unfortunately just much better than the book itself.
Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Homophobia, and Hate crime
Moderate: Alcohol, Murder, Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Sexism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing
lindsayerin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Lesbophobia, Violence, Death, and Outing
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
onemamareads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Homophobia, Animal death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
goolaina's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
radler's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcohol
alexg52's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Hate crime and Homophobia
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Police brutality