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quechl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I want to start by saying I really enjoyed this book. the writing is absolutely stunning. im fairly certain the most common thing i annotated while reading is something about the prose. Effy as our pov character is interesting and really does make you root for her. the setting was atmospheric and moody, the struggles raw and emotional; reid as an author is most definitely talented and intentional with her craft.
that being said i definitely have a few nitpicks. preston could have been more fleshed out; i wanted more of him, his thoughts and perspective and we just dont see that. i really liked him as a character, but we dont ever really get to see what hes thinking, which i found to be a real shame. the same can be said about the worldbuilding; i LOVE that stuff, and what we do get is really interesting!!! the different saints, local traditions, cultural differences, all of it really tickles me, and its a real shame that the audience (and by that i mean me) wasnt given much chance to read more about it. i want to know about this world, and i felt like it could have been used to further prestons background as well! we had snippets of him telling us sayings, but that was it!! hes supposed to be a passionate lit major!! let him dump info on us!!! i get why it was done, considering the pacing of the book, but its a real shame nonetheless.
and finally, my most major gripe is that the 'twist' was just... predictable. i thought it was going to be a red herring, but no, that was the actual twist, which i found frustrating, especially because effy thinks about the obvious answer like partially once, and then never again. it felt like these clever characters kept missing the clearest answer, and that annoyed me, because the rest of this book really is great. its moody and enticing and tense, and the blurring lines between real and fake is really engaging.
honestly i almost wish she left the reality of the fairy king remain a mystery. part of whats enjoyable is that you dont know how much of the story is truely happening. i understand why reid did, but personally i felt like keeping that mystery and dichotomy between the cynic preston and spiritual effy more potent because we the readers dont know the 'objective truth' as preston puts it.
that being said i definitely have a few nitpicks. preston could have been more fleshed out; i wanted more of him, his thoughts and perspective and we just dont see that. i really liked him as a character, but we dont ever really get to see what hes thinking, which i found to be a real shame. the same can be said about the worldbuilding; i LOVE that stuff, and what we do get is really interesting!!! the different saints, local traditions, cultural differences, all of it really tickles me, and its a real shame that the audience (and by that i mean me) wasnt given much chance to read more about it. i want to know about this world, and i felt like it could have been used to further prestons background as well! we had snippets of him telling us sayings, but that was it!! hes supposed to be a passionate lit major!! let him dump info on us!!! i get why it was done, considering the pacing of the book, but its a real shame nonetheless.
and finally, my most major gripe is that the 'twist' was just... predictable. i thought it was going to be a red herring, but no, that was the actual twist, which i found frustrating, especially because effy thinks about the obvious answer like partially once, and then never again. it felt like these clever characters kept missing the clearest answer, and that annoyed me, because the rest of this book really is great. its moody and enticing and tense, and the blurring lines between real and fake is really engaging.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Misogyny
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death, Pedophilia, and Death of parent
cookiedude19's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
mktraxel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
CAWPILE 4.8
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
sophiarichter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I was really excited to read this book because I saw a glowing review on it. To be honest I was a bit disappointed by the quality of writing, even though the world and characters were well-developed I felt like I was being hit over the head with the same point. I loved the sea imagery and many of the lines were quite beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
hayy6747's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Rape, Violence, and Sexual harassment
jazzybelle17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual assault
justinekorson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I have mixed feelings about this story. On one hand I thought the world building was very interesting and I enjoyed the setting of this crumbling house by the ocean. On the other hand.... I could not stand Effie and all her contradictions. So let's get into a few of them.
1. Racism??? Effie "othered" Preston SO HARD. (I was listening to the audio book so I'm unsure if the narrator was saying Preston was Argatian or Argentinean. The reason I'm unsure as well is because the language that Preston spoke did not sound like Spanish but I don't know all the dialects of it so I could be wrong.) Regardless, she talked about Preston and his ethnicity USING ALL OF HIS ETHNICITY'S STEREOTYPES against him. In fact, everyone in the novel did so and when other people spoke about Preston like that Effie would get offended AS IF SHE HADN'T ALSO THOUGHT THE SAME THINGS. Preston was the only decent character in this novel and I hated the way Effie talked about him and how she said that she "always wanted him". No you didn't girl. You romanticized him so hard you forgot that you were being unfairly judgmental of a boy you barely know.
2. Effie is such a damsel in distress and is not, in her own words, a "survivor". She went through some truly awful things from men in power but in that final scene where she defeats the Fairy King and then when she attempts to save Preston from drowning... she's not doing any of the actual work. The mirror she holds up does all the work in my opinion and then when she's trying to save Preston it's not even HER that does it. She has help from (I don't know how to spell her name) the wife. She was going to GIVE UP! Tell me how that is survivalist behavior? She was going to let herself and Preston drown if the wife hadn't come along. Which is why I don't think she had much of a character ARC at all. Even at the end when she, with the help of Preston, confronts the Dean of the university, I don't believe her when she decides to argue with him. It all falls so flat for me.
3.WHY WERE THERE NO TRIGGER WARNINGS IN THIS BOOK. It talks HEAVILY about the abuse women suffer at the hands of men AND YET THERE WAS NO TRIGGER WARNINGS PAGE AT THE BEGINNING?!?! Make it make sense. I had no idea the book would talk this much about SA and if I had I could've prepared myself for that kind of mindset. As it stands, I struggled to get into this story and at some points I stopped paying attention.
I thought this book would be a five but unfortunately I was mistaken. I don't think I'm going to read anything else by this author if this story was such a disappointment.
1. Racism??? Effie "othered" Preston SO HARD. (I was listening to the audio book so I'm unsure if the narrator was saying Preston was Argatian or Argentinean. The reason I'm unsure as well is because the language that Preston spoke did not sound like Spanish but I don't know all the dialects of it so I could be wrong.) Regardless, she talked about Preston and his ethnicity USING ALL OF HIS ETHNICITY'S STEREOTYPES against him. In fact, everyone in the novel did so and when other people spoke about Preston like that Effie would get offended AS IF SHE HADN'T ALSO THOUGHT THE SAME THINGS. Preston was the only decent character in this novel and I hated the way Effie talked about him and how she said that she "always wanted him". No you didn't girl. You romanticized him so hard you forgot that you were being unfairly judgmental of a boy you barely know.
2. Effie is such a damsel in distress and is not, in her own words, a "survivor". She went through some truly awful things from men in power but in that final scene where she defeats the Fairy King and then when she attempts to save Preston from drowning... she's not doing any of the actual work. The mirror she holds up does all the work in my opinion and then when she's trying to save Preston it's not even HER that does it. She has help from (I don't know how to spell her name) the wife. She was going to GIVE UP! Tell me how that is survivalist behavior? She was going to let herself and Preston drown if the wife hadn't come along. Which is why I don't think she had much of a character ARC at all. Even at the end when she, with the help of Preston, confronts the Dean of the university, I don't believe her when she decides to argue with him. It all falls so flat for me.
3.WHY WERE THERE NO TRIGGER WARNINGS IN THIS BOOK. It talks HEAVILY about the abuse women suffer at the hands of men AND YET THERE WAS NO TRIGGER WARNINGS PAGE AT THE BEGINNING?!?! Make it make sense. I had no idea the book would talk this much about SA and if I had I could've prepared myself for that kind of mindset. As it stands, I struggled to get into this story and at some points I stopped paying attention.
I thought this book would be a five but unfortunately I was mistaken. I don't think I'm going to read anything else by this author if this story was such a disappointment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
artemisx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism
darlingmoira's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This is not the book for me. The writing style is good, it allowed me to finish the book despite really struggling with the story.
This book is talked about as an enemies to lovers but once again hugely misses the mark! The “enemies” part relies on the main character being openly racist to her counterpart. For the majority of the book she talks and thinks about how her soon to be lover shouldn’t even be allowed to study at her school.
The plot could have been really well done if it removed that aspect of the story completely.
I have to acknowledge that the “feminist” aspects of this story are well done. How the main character handles a SA situation internally and then makes progress with dealing with it is portrayed very realistically. Everything about that part of the story is well done but otherwise book would have just been a 2 and nothing more.
This book is talked about as an enemies to lovers but once again hugely misses the mark! The “enemies” part relies on the main character being openly racist to her counterpart. For the majority of the book she talks and thinks about how her soon to be lover shouldn’t even be allowed to study at her school.
The plot could have been really well done if it removed that aspect of the story completely.
I have to acknowledge that the “feminist” aspects of this story are well done. How the main character handles a SA situation internally and then makes progress with dealing with it is portrayed very realistically. Everything about that part of the story is well done but otherwise book would have just been a 2 and nothing more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Classism
kryzysowa_narzeczona's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment