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atlantisfrost's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Forced institutionalization
asahome's review against another edition
3.5
There is a book within a book. It felt a little like two short stories brought together in one novel with large sections devoted to one story over the other.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Violence, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Grief, and Murder
mindsplinters'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? It's complicated
5.0
January is witness to it all but only slowly starts to actually understand and realize what it all means. As a character, she has a very long way to grow and go and it is both pleasure and pain to be her companion. Without quite coming out and saying it, the author holds us witness to the emotional abuse and neglect, the masked concern, and care with strings that January endures. We see the flaws; January has to learn to see the poison behind and beneath it all. Understandably, as a complex and very human character, she fights the knowledge at times or backslides. After all, it is sometimes much easier to ignore a door or close it than to deal with what might come through it.
In the end, though, this book is so full of hope and strength and you leave it battered and scarred but with a new determination. As January says (via Alix E Harrow) "I hope to every god you have the guts to do what needs doing. I hope you will find the cracks in the world and wedge them wider, so the light of other suns shines through; I hope you will keep the world unruly, messy, full of strange magics; I hope you will run through every open Door and tell stories when you return."
May we all have the bravery and conviction to STOP being polite when confronted with Wrongness and Evil.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Violence, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism
amaranth_wytch's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Grief, and Self harm
Minor: Gun violence
kimbopugh'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
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, Sexism, and Gaslighting
jessicarenz'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
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Blood, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, and Murder
Minor: Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Medical trauma
hilwithonel'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
5.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, and Racism
Minor: Violence
craftysnailtail's review
- 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
4.75
Overall, I highly recommend this book just for Harrow's style alone, but it's also a fascinating plot with creative and well developed characters. Yes, it starts off rather slow, but that's extremely intentional. Yes, January feels frustratingly naive, but of course she is given her living situation. This book is all about adventure, imagination, and developing your own life's narrative. One of the top books I read all year and I recommend it to everyone!
Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Death
anastasiamakes'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
It's whimsical but dark, tackles important topics without feeling preachy, and made me cry happy tears.
I have so many quotations highlighted in this book, it's just so beautifully written.
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Abandonment, Self harm, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Racism, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Gun violence, and Slavery
ecwelden's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty