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

I think a lot of people didn’t like the way Roe’s character was handled but I honestly thought it was realistic. He literally says “I don’t know” when asked about different pronouns and is clearly still figuring things out which is okay! I did feel a little weird that Maeve still id’ed as straight (yes I did dock points for this) however, her willingness to accept Roe because she loved him for his personality was very nice!

I mean, I know nonbinary people in my life who use "binary" pronouns. Pronouns ≠ gender, blah blah, I am going to give the author benefit of the doubt with this one.

I also really enjoyed the talks about boundaries. I was so ecstatic that

Lily didn’t automatically forgive her and that Maeve accepted that. Obviously she was still upset (I would be too) but if Lily had been besties with her again that would have been so uncharacteristic.

Things I didn’t like:

How homophobia/transphobia was just At The Center of so much of this book. At points it just felt…overdone and theatrical.

I also feel like Maeve was pretty flat. She definitely changed (sort of) but she seems very much like she has a long way to go. However, there is a sequel (which I WILL be picking up ASAP) so there’s hope.

Overall thoughts:
I feel like if I read this when I was 16 I would have enjoyed it a lot more. I can’t help but compare it to The Raven Cycle which I tore up in high-school but now I have to suspend a lot of my opinions to enjoy it.

I still liked it but I wasn’t completely blown away. Good but not great. 3.75 :)

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littlesmaug's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

I loved this book and cannot wait to read the next one! Was it perfect? Absolutely not but it was still well-written. Maeve could be annoying and immature at times, yes, but man oh man... so was I at 16.

What I loved most about <i> All Our Hidden Gifts </i> was that it was a clear and obvious depiction of a teenager with a mental illness. I've seen some other reviews complain that Maeve was too childish or too self-centered. But as someone who struggled with mental health issues, Maeve was a lot like me. I saw myself and many of my friends in her. I think that Maeve has very clear ADHD with RSD. You could also argue for BPD. But no matter what, she was actually incredibly accurate to someone who is struggling with mental health. And we DO see her grow! So much. There's literally a line in the book where she expresses that she learned how to set boundaries and accept the boundaries set by others. That's incredible! That's something even adults don't always learn to do!

Beyond my rant on Maeve being treated unfairly by the readers... I loved the diversity in this book. I loved how different each character was and the representation in the pages. I love Roe so so much. I hope in the next book we see him more comfortable in his gender identity!

But yes, all-in-all, a wonderful read. I am completely pleased to have read it!

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laynemandros's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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abigailc0x's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

i literally read 250 pages today so be impressed!!!
it was really really good hence why i read most of it in a few days but ended not how i expected it
side note the made up song lyrics made me slightly cringe but maybe that’s a me thing

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