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maeverose's review against another edition
4.0
This would be a solid 5 stars if it weren’t for one thing that rubbed me the wrong way… That being the way Kite murdered Frank and everyone just kinda forgot about it. Like that made him irredeemable to me. I would’ve loved the whole romance plot line and been totally happy with the ending if it weren’t for that one thing. If the author is autistic I’d be willing to look past it, even though I still think it was an odd choice, but if she’s allistic that gives me the ick. The way he was physically restrained, slapped and literally murdered while having a meltdown? Just to keep Joe from remembering who he was. That is not justified on Kite’s part. At all. And Joe just seemingly forgets about it after a while??
I also didn’t love some of the ways the author described Kite’s scarring and Clay’s disfigurement and ‘childlike’ behavior from his trauma. It could just be Joe’s/Kite’s thoughts not the author’s, but it bothered me a bit. It wasn’t horrible though.
Otherwise I really liked this book. I heard someone suggest it as a book similar to The Binding (which I also liked until I found out the author was a terf), and this definitely has a similar feel to The Binding, though a pretty different plot. I knew very little going in and I think that’s the best way to read it. Despite how mostly negative this review is I would recommend this if the synopsis sounds intriguing. Just check content warnings!
I also didn’t love some of the ways the author described Kite’s scarring and Clay’s disfigurement and ‘childlike’ behavior from his trauma. It could just be Joe’s/Kite’s thoughts not the author’s, but it bothered me a bit. It wasn’t horrible though.
Otherwise I really liked this book. I heard someone suggest it as a book similar to The Binding (which I also liked until I found out the author was a terf), and this definitely has a similar feel to The Binding, though a pretty different plot. I knew very little going in and I think that’s the best way to read it. Despite how mostly negative this review is I would recommend this if the synopsis sounds intriguing. Just check content warnings!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, War, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Child abuse, Gore, Medical content, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism, Ableism, and Fatphobia
graphic: Amnesia, Intrusive Thoughts, minor: Eugenicsoatcappuccino's review against another edition
Pulley's light and sentimental prose works well in other instances I think but certainly not during the Napoleonic war, which has already been covered extensively and skillfully by many novels. This book seems to confuse dramatic setting changes for genuine & engaging plot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
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