Reviews with content warning for Self harm - All our hidden gifts - La Gouvernante

So I fell head over heels in love with this story and all the characters. Queer, mysteriously witchy, and totally fun, I listened to the beautifully narrated audiobook.

It follows Maeve, a high school student, who stumbles upon a pack of tarot cards and finds herself with an affinity for reading them, even though she’s an otherwise terrible student. When her ex-best friend Lily disappears after a reading (and subsequent argument with Maeve), the latter starts to feel she might be to blame.

I was wholly gripped by this book from start to finish. Maeve is by no means a perfect character, and you discover that she is largely to blame for much of her misery – whether she’d like to admit it or not – but that’s what drew me to her. At times, she’s flawed and selfish, but she's also compassionate and trying to be better. I loved her journey of self-discovery and growth, and though this is only the first of three books, I felt that she pretty much did a complete 180.

Her relationship with Roe, Lily’s queer brother, was endearing and sweet, and I loved that Caroline O’Donoghue used the character, alongside Maeve’s lesbian sister Joanne, to exemplify the prejudice and bigotry in Ireland (and let’s face it, across the world).

There were equal amounts of unsettling and heartwarming moments and several little threads that were nicely tied at the end of this book. I highly recommend this for a magical, fierce and intriguing YA book.

Content Warnings

sifairi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

eihreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lostcupofstars's review against another edition

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2.0

This book had a lot of potential. I picked it up after a tough read thinking that this would be lighter…lol. It’s not a light read at all and quite frankly, it’s far too long.

Maeve is totally unlikeable which makes it a drag following her perspective for 400 pages. Roe is a confusing character; I don’t get what kind of person would embark on a romance with someone who is not only responsible for their sister being missing, but also put her through some horrible and relentless bullying after being a close family friend for years??

There were some errors I encountered (Maeve described as wearing leggings and then a page later is in jeans, accidental switch from first person to third) that supported the idea that this may have been rushed.

Really I think this needed to be heavily edited. I’m not interested in anyone aside from Fiona, and she is sadly not enough to convince me to read the rest of the series.

Content Warnings

mia_pnne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

emiliareads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

library_kb's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

This wasn't a personal favorite book--it definitely was a quick read. I finished it in a day. I think students that like a mysterious magical thriller will enjoy this one. It kind of reminded me of the magical style of Susan Cooper but with a darker twist. This does get into tarot, witchcraft, set up against a backdrop of fundamentalist hate groups using magical power to further their agendas. The main character wasn't particularly likeable as a character, but I did like the side characters of Roe and Fiona.

Content Warnings

charnyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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