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blacksphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There's just one character where every part of her, from her personality, to her actions, to the way her storyline ends, that I found extremely annoying. I also don't feel that the two major plotlines really ever came together in a way that was satisfying. Those criticisms aside, it was wonderful to read a fantasy story that was deeply steeped in Judaism, and a "found family" story that actually sells you on how the characters are a family.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, and Classism
Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic
TW: Eye trauma, references to the Holocaust, graphic descriptions of the effect of atomic bombs on the human body.briophyta's review
SUPER triggering as a survivor of abuse trying to listen to this audiobook. I think it's really irresponsible of the author to not have a big trigger warning on the first page or the cover or something. From reading the blurb about the plot and the author this sounds like it could be a great story and great representation of queerness, but the voice of the terrifying abuser loudly barging into every scene is very disturbing and seems tone deaf considering the significantly higher rate of abuse that happens to people in our community... and not only that but SO many other types of traumas just casually dropped in all over the place for almost every character encountered in the first few chapters. It was unbearably triggering, I actually had to take anxiety medicine to calm down after trying to push through and then realizing it was just too much and immediately returning the book in the library app. The writing is also frustratingly confusing and poorly paced imo!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
Minor: Vomit
bittennailbooks's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I was provided the ARC for The First Bright Thing by J.R Dawson for free in exchange for an honest review.
The First Bright Thing is JR Dawson's debut novel that promises to be for fans of the Night Circus and Addie La Rue. Ambitious claims! I was very excited to get into it.
First off, there are a lot of storylines in this book. You have the ring master Rin trying to stop World War II while dealing with the injustice of the treatment of her people as both a Spark (magical individual) and being Jewish, and a cat and mouse game with the rival circus owner who used to control her, and a parallel storyline at the same time. The parallel and eventual converging storyline is Edward who finds out that he is a Spark and uses his power of suggestion to go the evil route. Like I said, a lot going on!
What I liked: There was a lot of diversity in this book, just a heads up that this is not a "no homophobia" world and it is a CW for the book. I thought Dawson did an incredible job writing Edward's emotional manipulator personality and drive, a high note on how delightfully frustrating this character was for me. It was an easier read and I managed to read through it in a day and a half on my Kindle.
What I think could use improvement on: there is a lot going on with this book, almost too much. There is way too many storylines and plot driving that don't seem to mesh well together. If you are a fan of the Night Circus and Addie La Rue for the lyrical prose of the book, I don't think this is on par with that. The world building and descriptions are not described thoroughly. It gives more Umbrella Academy or X-Men vibes mixed with the circus.
I think this will be a good book for magical realism fans but some of the plots need to either be reduced or tightened up a bit.
The First Bright Thing is JR Dawson's debut novel that promises to be for fans of the Night Circus and Addie La Rue. Ambitious claims! I was very excited to get into it.
First off, there are a lot of storylines in this book. You have the ring master Rin trying to stop World War II while dealing with the injustice of the treatment of her people as both a Spark (magical individual) and being Jewish, and a cat and mouse game with the rival circus owner who used to control her, and a parallel storyline at the same time. The parallel and eventual converging storyline is Edward who finds out that he is a Spark and uses his power of suggestion to go the evil route. Like I said, a lot going on!
What I liked: There was a lot of diversity in this book, just a heads up that this is not a "no homophobia" world and it is a CW for the book. I thought Dawson did an incredible job writing Edward's emotional manipulator personality and drive, a high note on how delightfully frustrating this character was for me. It was an easier read and I managed to read through it in a day and a half on my Kindle.
What I think could use improvement on: there is a lot going on with this book, almost too much. There is way too many storylines and plot driving that don't seem to mesh well together. If you are a fan of the Night Circus and Addie La Rue for the lyrical prose of the book, I don't think this is on par with that. The world building and descriptions are not described thoroughly. It gives more Umbrella Academy or X-Men vibes mixed with the circus.
I think this will be a good book for magical realism fans but some of the plots need to either be reduced or tightened up a bit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual violence and Suicidal thoughts