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libristella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Addiction, Death, Rape, Gun violence, Car accident, Violence, Medical content, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Murder, and Blood
summerlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Drug use
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Addiction, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Torture, Racism, and Racial slurs
author2223's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Drug abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Racism, Medical content, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent and Grief
vincentpriceisright's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Dementia, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Addiction, Body shaming, and Genocide
I would say the two biggest CWs/TWs to be aware of are drug abuse/addiction and rape/sexual harassmentmichelle_my_belle's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide, Colonisation, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Drug abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racism
sapphic_in_the_stacks's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.25
Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Vomit, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Rape, Racism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Child death, and Drug abuse
insanebookperson's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Car accident, Drug use, Alcohol, Body shaming, Confinement, Kidnapping, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Murder, Vomit, Addiction, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual content, Classism, Medical content, Sexual violence, and Violence
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
The writing ranges from dry to pointedly (in other words, unnaturally) quotable, and the dialogue is somehow even more stilted and unrealistically grammatically flawless than the narration. A few spoken lines toward the end literally go on uninterrupted and with no stuttering or backtracking for 100+ words; virtually no one, let alone who's suffered recent repeated physical trauma, is that eloquent. Information is revealed in stilted blocks and repeated ten times over. I don't think any teenager -- or person at all -- in the history of cell phones has ever texted like the teenagers in this book are written as doing.
In terms of substance, there's a lot left to be desired as well. All of the individual narrative threads -- or at least most of them -- would make interesting stories, but here they're all kind of crammed into one unbalanced mess. Is the central plot supposed to be Daunis's complex relationship with her family members and community? Her desire to pursue a career in medicine/science and unite traditional and more modern "scientific" practices? Her recovering from and learning about the factors leading up to her best friend's sudden, tragic death? Her role as an undercover informant in an FBI investigation involving meth and her community (as much suspension of disbelief as that requires)? Her and Jamie's relationship? A general critical overview of the treatment of Indigenous women in American and Canadian society? It's never really decided, and so we jump awkwardly from one to the other without more natural transitions or better multitasking, leading to really overall odd pacing.
The general emotional pacing never quite hits either. A significant medical detail about the protagonist is made explicit for the first time 70% in and never serves any real relevance (and is outright contradicted or ignored at other times). Major traumatic events like the murder of Daunis's best friend and
The characters -- including, perhaps especially Daunis -- lack depth, whittled down to one trait (not even one that is shown, but told... multiple times). The supporting cast especially kind of blends together as a result of that weird pacing and unrealistic, stilted dialogue. I couldn't get a real sense of any of their motivations, so the culprit reveal and relationships all feel more than lackluster. In that regard, the romance is particularly egregious, even putting aside the core issues with
Overall, quite disappointing execution of multiple interesting premises, and I remain bewildered by the overwhelmingly positive response. Perhaps it was a great book for many others, but nothing about it ended up clicking or sitting well with me.
(Also, urine, even your own, is not actually sterile! Please do not use it as a substitute for hydrogen peroxide. I know this is set in 2004 -- as little as there is to solidly ground it there -- and a lot of people believe that myth even today, but it just feels... irresponsible to include in a book like this, especially framed as an objective valuable fact.)
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infidelity, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Car accident, and Child abuse
redefiningrachel's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Addiction, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Sexual violence, and Rape
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Car accident, Colonisation, Blood, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Medical content
Minor: Vomit and Domestic abuse
miniingrid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Colonisation, Infidelity, Addiction, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Grief, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Rape, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Torture and Slavery