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kenfoxley's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
This book took me by surprise. I didn't know what this was about going into it and I was pleasantly surprised by how the author wrote the characters. There was so much representation in this, different characters who all have different neurodivergent characteristics. Autism, ADHD, ADD, anxiety, depression, disabilities, physical or otherwise. I found the ending extremely wordy when they were fighting the ghost eater . But at the same time, the main character wasn't much of a talker either. They communicated a lot with text messages or writing things down and no one gave them crap for it. I think it had to be wordy because the character themselves did not really speak.
I give this 4.25 stars just because I felt like the ending was too rushed. Half the time I didn't really realize what was happening.How do you fight a ghost that is taking over humans? How do you take the life force of a ghost that makes it fade faster? Maybe I don't know that much about ghosts after all, or this is just someone's take on ghosts and how they respond to their environment and live through time. But overall I did enjoy it! I love that this wasn't your typical "ghost story" but rather how to get along with them and live among them.
I give this 4.25 stars just because I felt like the ending was too rushed. Half the time I didn't really realize what was happening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Blood, Child abuse, and Child death
queerspoons's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
This book had potential. The premise was exciting, and the cast of characters was diverse and endearing, however that’s where things fell flat for me.
To start, the ensemble was so vast that it felt that you didn’t really get to know any of them past their disabilities and challenges operating in a neurotypical, cisgender, heterosexual world. I believe in an attempt to highlight these differences in the characters, they were made one-note.
The novel also had very little in terms of plot. The majority of the writing was focused on the characters, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you couple it with writing that is blanketed by monotonous descriptions of the characters’ struggles, it leaves something to be desired. Plot points seemed glossed over or quickly described and then we move on.
Third, and perhaps most glaring, was the need for another revision. The writing had typos, potentially misgendered one of the characters more than once (though that could be misunderstanding on my part from unclear writing structures), was repetitive, and relied too heavily on fractured sentences.
I believe this book had promise, but the execution was faulty for me.
This book had potential. The premise was exciting, and the cast of characters was diverse and endearing, however that’s where things fell flat for me.
To start, the ensemble was so vast that it felt that you didn’t really get to know any of them past their disabilities and challenges operating in a neurotypical, cisgender, heterosexual world. I believe in an attempt to highlight these differences in the characters, they were made one-note.
The novel also had very little in terms of plot. The majority of the writing was focused on the characters, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you couple it with writing that is blanketed by monotonous descriptions of the characters’ struggles, it leaves something to be desired. Plot points seemed glossed over or quickly described and then we move on.
Third, and perhaps most glaring, was the need for another revision. The writing had typos, potentially misgendered one of the characters more than once (though that could be misunderstanding on my part from unclear writing structures), was repetitive, and relied too heavily on fractured sentences.
I believe this book had promise, but the execution was faulty for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
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