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chrisb913'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
Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Animal death, and Car accident
hexagonal_flowers'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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Transphobia
Minor: Car accident, Murder, Deadnaming, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
corsetedfeminist'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? Yes
5.0
This book manages to be extremely gay and extremely Latinx, all at once, in an explosion of culture and magic that I couldn’t help but fall in love with.
The story is unpredictable and heartfelt all at the same time- I literally squealed at one particular plot point.
It also deals with very well with what it’s like to not be a straight, cisgendered person in a culture and religion that is strongly gendered, with the realistic amount of resultant angst and a heartwarming conclusion.
The romance is literally perfect, featuring what I can only describe as the human embodiment of a pitbull (looks imposing, but is actually just a hyper squish) and sensitive but stubborn main character who I immediately loved.
The girl best friend is probably one of my favorite sidekicks of all time- tiny pink haired girl with two massive pitbulls and a long suffering mom friend vibe only defeated by her love for mischief.
In short, I have no idea why this book isn’t more popular than it is- it’s a perfect YA book, both for lots of Latinx representation and for the queer representation.
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Violence, Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
Minor: Deportation
tovetott's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is the second book I've read by Aiden Thomas, and I can't believe I was tricked into thinking it WOULDN'T take a dark turn AGAIN by the wholesome, sweet buildup and the lovable characters. 😭 I'm onto you now, though, Thomas! You're not getting me next time !! 😭
Absolutely loved the story, and the queer and trans rep was really well done and felt like it elevated the story in a really, really cool way. I loved the way things were foreshadowed (I managed to figure it out about halfway through without the book being obvious about it) AND EVEN STILL it had me gasping at the end because of twists I didn't see coming.
The ONLY THINGS pulling down the score from a full 5 stars for me is the writing itself feeling a lil ?? Idk how to put it but the prose is not as "artsy" as I'd like a 5-star book to be? Does that make sense? This might also have been an expectation I applied myself after all the good things I'd heard about this book, and it just didn't quite live up to what I had in mind hsjdbbd
The second thing knocking this down SLIGHTLY is the way the dark twist is REALLY DARK in contrast to how lighthearted the rest of the book is (I had the same reaction with 'Lost In The Never Woods' even though I ofc absolutely LOVED it still!!). It's definitely a style choice but it really threw me off balance this time too.
All in all, I had a great time! I loved all the Spanish dialogue (and accents !!!) and mexican culture references and mythology etc about Día de Muertos! It was weaved in so seamlessly into the story and I loved it (even though my frantic googling and translating and pronounciation guides LOL)
Julian and Yadriel's stories will live with me for a long time, precious lil beans 🥺🥺🩷✨️🩷✨️🩷
Graphic: Blood, Transphobia, and Violence
toastedoats42's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Transphobia, Dysphoria, and Grief
Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Kidnapping, and Violence
erikagibson126's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Dysphoria
Minor: Deadnaming, Drug use, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Confinement, Deportation, Physical abuse, Medical content, Cursing, Gore, Outing, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Abandonment
nikoops'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: Medical trauma, Blood, Child death, Torture, Violence, Deadnaming, Animal death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gore, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
angel__'s review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Rep: Latinx, trans*
Graphic: Transphobia, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Deadnaming, Murder, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident
brontosaurusbb'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
4.75
Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Violence
kickitupanotch7'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
4.75
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Transphobia
Minor: Child death, Deportation, Kidnapping, and Deadnaming