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lindseyhall44'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
Pet occurs in the eutopic Lucille, where all monsters have been defeated by angels. At least, that’s what everyone believes. So when Jam meets pet, an other-worldly creature here to hunt a monster, the life she has come to know is thrown into disarray.
Emezi raises powerful questions on our society and advocacy, yet also provides the antidote: hope. Hope that above all, we remember and learn.
I am so thankful to have read such a powerful book, and would recommend it 1000 times over, but please check trigger warnings, for there are heavy subject matters.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Gaslighting
grrrlbrarian'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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Gaslighting
Although it’s heavily implied thatnialiversuch'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
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War
Minor: Vomit
hyperpension'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: Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Rape, Sexual violence, and Transphobia
penofpossibilities's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
Minor: Gaslighting
Dissociationvalereads'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
5.0
This little book packed a punch. It's short length meant the narrative was very focused in on the main plot with no real room for subplots. It might be on the shorter side for some people but I felt it was the perfect length for what it wanted to do.
I love Emezi's prose style in this book just as much as I did in their first book, Freshwater. It's told very beautifully but would still be accessible to the target audience of teens. I especially loved the audiobook read by Chris Myers. I felt it really added something to the story but I needed to read along with the physical book as it could be a bit confusing which parts were signed, spoken out loud and thought with just the audio.
I also really like the casual diversity in this story. Jam is trans and selectively mute (it's not mentioned in the book, but I remember seeing somewhere that she's autistic) and neither of these elements are the focus of the story but still remain relevant to the story and are important for young audiences to see. I especially appreciated that Jam's disability wasn't treated as a negative and characters naturally accommodated for it. I wish people treated non-vocal autistic people like that more often in real life.
The themes of this novel are important especially for young people. Being aware of the signs of something wrong and not ignoring them and not taking things for granted are ones that are important for them to hear. Along with the importance of looking out for each other and taking care of each other.
This book was beautifully written and important for young people and adults alike. I especially liked how the speculative themes were incorporated into the narrative. I highly recommend it and can't wait to read Bitter when it releases in 2022.
Content Warnings: implied sexual abuse, implied csa, child abuse, violence
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Police brutality
dalmavatai'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
4.5
This is such a beautiful book. The writing is gorgeous, the characters, especially Jam, and the relationships between them, are incredibly meaningful and well-developed. I loved Jam's family and her relationships with her parents as well as with her best friend Redemption, but most of all I loved her relationship with Pet. After her initial fear and apprehension, she was so accepting and managed to view Pet as her equal, which none of the other characters could do. I love how Pet is not otherized in this story, as in, it's not portrayed as a thing but as a creature with its own emotions, ambitions, worldviews, and personality. Pet and Jam had such a great friendship where they teased each other but also made each other grow.
I loved the social commentary in this book. I love how Akwaeke was able to imagine this world where there is no police brutality or even police anymore, no transphobia, no racism, in other words, so many things that we want to see destroyed in the present moment. At the same time, she explores how problems have not disappeared from Lucille and monsters still exist. I feel like a lot of the time when we imagine a better future, many of us are liable to see it as a utopian one, and it was refreshing to see a future world which has made a lot of progress but which has its very own issues at the same time.
I loved the conversations around seeing, and how ideology can convince us not to see certain things that are nevertheless there. I loved Jam and Redemption's journey of finding out the identity of the monster in their midst, and deciding how to bring about justice for the person harmed.
This book is at its core about change, both social and personal, and how to go about making change in the world, how to uncover a problem that everyone else seems to be in denial about. It was so poignant, so lyrical, so nuanced, so beautiful, and so unique. This book will stay with me for a long time, and I'd recommend even if you're not a magical realism/fantasy reader like myself.
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, and War
foreverinastory'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
4.0
Rep: Black trans female MC, all Black cast.
CWs: Adult/minor relationship (non-consensual), death, domestic abuse, rape, sexual assault, violence.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
beckycarter97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
nefariousbee's review
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Minor: Vomit