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A review by miranda_graham
Wicked Little Things by Justin Arnold
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall, a decent (cheesy) teen fantasy rom com deal. We love a book that has openly gay, bi, trans characters. Thank you for the inclusivity! My issues with the book are:
1) So…did our main character summon a ghost to kill his cousin? It is a bit unclear still in the ending.
2) Dear cousin still died being a bit of a bigot. But learned better now he was dead? Is this really the plot point we needed? Couldn’t he have died thinking he was in the wrong for painting a slur on Dane’s head and simply died trying to help save the family from the ghost?
3) I feel like we could have gotten more backstory for the ghost “Rabbit Skins” to understand why he agreed to a deal with the devil. It would have even been more satisfying if when vanquished, he said “Thank you” to Dane or something to signify that he regretted the deal he made.
4) Maybe just a me thing, but I don’t understand how Dane and E.J. were taking their relationship so seriously so fast? And the whole E.J. being a werewolf thing felt forced. I’m not sure it was really necessary as a plot point. Yet it does open the door to future books in this universe (also with the side quest of searching for a lost trans-brother) so I can understand why the author may have included this. May have better served this book if E.J. was seriously considered as a suspect for the murders before the actual killer was revealed.
On the whole, this was good if you’re in a mood for cheesy teen love with some monster stuff sprinkled in-between.
2) Dear cousin still died being a bit of a bigot. But learned better now he was dead? Is this really the plot point we needed? Couldn’t he have died thinking he was in the wrong for painting a slur on Dane’s head and simply died trying to help save the family from the ghost?
3) I feel like we could have gotten more backstory for the ghost “Rabbit Skins” to understand why he agreed to a deal with the devil. It would have even been more satisfying if when vanquished, he said “Thank you” to Dane or something to signify that he regretted the deal he made.
4) Maybe just a me thing, but I don’t understand how Dane and E.J. were taking their relationship so seriously so fast? And the whole E.J. being a werewolf thing felt forced. I’m not sure it was really necessary as a plot point. Yet it does open the door to future books in this universe (also with the side quest of searching for a lost trans-brother) so I can understand why the author may have included this. May have better served this book if E.J. was seriously considered as a suspect for the murders before the actual killer was revealed.
On the whole, this was good if you’re in a mood for cheesy teen love with some monster stuff sprinkled in-between.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Gore and Abandonment