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A review by jenny_librarian
Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars by Sam Maggs
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
I hate having to rate this less than 4 stars. Canon pansexual Merrin should have been enough to give this 4.25 at least. Unfortunately, the writing is… shaky at best.
Maybe it wasn’t edited properly, maybe they ran out of time before publication. Whatever the reason, it’s bad. To the point that I sometimes had to reread a paragraph 2-3 times to understand what was going on. There was also a lot of repetition, sometimes from different characters basically saying the same thing, other times the same character repeating their thoughts from one page to the next. It’s really not that good.
And that’s a shame because this book is for the lesbians! Merrin being described as pan ON PAGE!! Having a very steamy relationship that burns just as quick and bright as her fire! An open discussion about a possible polyamorous relationship! (They don’t say as such explicitly, but it’s one of the few times there is subtext in that book…) It could’ve been great. Should’ve been great 😔
Don’t base your expectations on the cover. The publisher put something that draws the attention, but doesn’t really fits the story. The Fifth Brother takes a lot of room on the cover, but he’s there maybe 20 pages in total? There’s no picture of Fret, but she’s way more important than he is. Also Cal is centred (probably because he’s the main character in the video game) but Merrin is the central character in this story. Of all of them, she’s the one who has the most character development. Dare I even say, the only one who has some serious development…
I’ve read worse in the GFFA, and if it weren’t for the writing this could have been really good. As it stands, I advise you read only if you want some lesbian Nightsister action.
Maybe it wasn’t edited properly, maybe they ran out of time before publication. Whatever the reason, it’s bad. To the point that I sometimes had to reread a paragraph 2-3 times to understand what was going on. There was also a lot of repetition, sometimes from different characters basically saying the same thing, other times the same character repeating their thoughts from one page to the next. It’s really not that good.
And that’s a shame because this book is for the lesbians! Merrin being described as pan ON PAGE!! Having a very steamy relationship that burns just as quick and bright as her fire! An open discussion about a possible polyamorous relationship! (They don’t say as such explicitly, but it’s one of the few times there is subtext in that book…) It could’ve been great. Should’ve been great 😔
Don’t base your expectations on the cover. The publisher put something that draws the attention, but doesn’t really fits the story. The Fifth Brother takes a lot of room on the cover, but he’s there maybe 20 pages in total? There’s no picture of Fret, but she’s way more important than he is. Also Cal is centred (probably because he’s the main character in the video game) but Merrin is the central character in this story. Of all of them, she’s the one who has the most character development. Dare I even say, the only one who has some serious development…
I’ve read worse in the GFFA, and if it weren’t for the writing this could have been really good. As it stands, I advise you read only if you want some lesbian Nightsister action.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Suicidal thoughts