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prested's review against another edition
2.0
Set in a dystopian USA of the 1960s where magic exists, Lisbeth Rose is a mercenary who gets roped into the political mechanisms of the new Holy Russian Empire that now resides in California.
This book is well written.
The worldbuilding, though questionable, is concise and the main characters are enjoyable.
I personally enjoyed Paulina a lot so
Lisbeth Rose, the protagonist, is a consistent character. She is a straightforward and honest person who enjoys her way of life and wants to keep it the same.
This book however is very much a whitewashed version of the Southwest, which is truly unfortunate because it has such an interesting story.
From my understanding this book mostly takes place is Texas,the southern part of it, and yet the Latinx representation was nonexistent.
I get that its dyspotain, but when things only got off kited 20 years prior to the start of this book, so what happened to all the Mexicans?
They were only mentioned a few times throughout the book but I can't recall any notable Mexican characters except
Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the Southwest isn't a new thing, they have been living there for generations. Longer than most white people and yet majority of the settlements portrayed in this book were dated stereotypes.
That prominent Mexican characters were illiterate, even though before 1940s there were plenty of educated Latinx within the United States. The El Misisipi, a Spanish newspaper that originated in the US, have been around since 1808.
And yet in this USA, this book only had Mexicans that were poor and they were all superstitious and religious.
I also thought it was a little odd that Harris constantly referred to black people as dark but I guess that's a style choice. I do appreciate that she didn't use stereotypes with those characters, although there were barely any POC in this book.
This book was obviously written through a white lense, but it was published in 2019.
I expected more out of this book when it came to diversity and was disappointed.
I would expect this kind of book, and excuse it, from the 1990s-early 2000s but a book published in 2019 I have different standards for.
I understand that Harris is a writer from an older generation but it's truly unfortunate that her writing isn't evolving with the times.
Although I enjoyed the story to a degree I don't think I'll be reading the next one.
This book is well written.
The worldbuilding, though questionable, is concise and the main characters are enjoyable.
I personally enjoyed Paulina a lot so
Spoiler
I was a little sad when she died.Lisbeth Rose, the protagonist, is a consistent character. She is a straightforward and honest person who enjoys her way of life and wants to keep it the same.
Spoiler
I don't think she had much character development in this book however. The only major development she had was that she opened up to Eli.This book however is very much a whitewashed version of the Southwest, which is truly unfortunate because it has such an interesting story.
From my understanding this book mostly takes place is Texas,the southern part of it, and yet the Latinx representation was nonexistent.
I get that its dyspotain, but when things only got off kited 20 years prior to the start of this book, so what happened to all the Mexicans?
They were only mentioned a few times throughout the book but I can't recall any notable Mexican characters except
Spoiler
Felicia. Which by the way, I think it's ridiculous that she's apparently the only Mexican in San Diego. San Diego, a city in South California. South California, where there is an abundance of Mexican Americans.Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the Southwest isn't a new thing, they have been living there for generations. Longer than most white people and yet majority of the settlements portrayed in this book were dated stereotypes.
That prominent Mexican characters were illiterate, even though before 1940s there were plenty of educated Latinx within the United States. The El Misisipi, a Spanish newspaper that originated in the US, have been around since 1808.
And yet in this USA, this book only had Mexicans that were poor and they were all superstitious and religious.
I also thought it was a little odd that Harris constantly referred to black people as dark but I guess that's a style choice. I do appreciate that she didn't use stereotypes with those characters, although there were barely any POC in this book.
This book was obviously written through a white lense, but it was published in 2019.
I expected more out of this book when it came to diversity and was disappointed.
I would expect this kind of book, and excuse it, from the 1990s-early 2000s but a book published in 2019 I have different standards for.
I understand that Harris is a writer from an older generation but it's truly unfortunate that her writing isn't evolving with the times.
Although I enjoyed the story to a degree I don't think I'll be reading the next one.
tiggytiggy's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
burkbooks's review against another edition
i just... wasn't feeling it. It felt over dramatic and at a quarter of the way into the book i still didn't care AT ALL about our main character...
chess4's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
arkcielis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
4.0
cross_a16's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The concept of this book was really interesting, but I didn’t enjoy the execution. I found it to be a bit boring, to be honest.
I really liked the supernatural aspects of these characters and it really could have been elaborated on more. I felt like we only scratched the surface and this book would have been so much more interesting if we got more magic.
The end was also really rushed after the whole book dragged. This just wasn’t a great one for me.
I really liked the supernatural aspects of these characters and it really could have been elaborated on more. I felt like we only scratched the surface and this book would have been so much more interesting if we got more magic.
The end was also really rushed after the whole book dragged. This just wasn’t a great one for me.
creativeflow's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
dianareadsalot's review against another edition
Check content warning. Not for me.
mgail000's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
3.75
I thought the romance plot came out of nowhere. Other than that its ok
Content Warnings
There's lots of death in the book.