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shelvesofivy's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Racism, Alcohol, and Fatphobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Colonisation, War, and Death of parent
bookish_bry's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
3.5
This book was easy to read and rarely bored me, though it had some flaws. To be fair, part of it may be because I am probably getting out of the age range it was intended for.
It could be a bit repetitive at times, and I often wished it would leave a bit to the imagination. I feel like Joy and Felix's pasts and motivations were often revealed too quickly. There was quite a bit of telling and not showing with the internal dialogue and it left very little to surprise me. Even the plot twists ofFelix's parentage was something I predicted pretty much immediately. I would have preferred the main villain to have been... a bit better cloaked instead of immediately blatantly obviously the bad guy.
Though overall, I do think it was a good book and one I would suggest to someone who likes young adult fiction. Like I said, I was rarely bored. I also appreciate the rather casual lgbt+ representation. In a book that did focus on a heterosexual (though I think Joy is demi and Felix is bi/pan) couple, it's always nice to see lbgt+ relationships just casually in the background.
It could be a bit repetitive at times, and I often wished it would leave a bit to the imagination. I feel like Joy and Felix's pasts and motivations were often revealed too quickly. There was quite a bit of telling and not showing with the internal dialogue and it left very little to surprise me. Even the plot twists of
Though overall, I do think it was a good book and one I would suggest to someone who likes young adult fiction. Like I said, I was rarely bored. I also appreciate the rather casual lgbt+ representation. In a book that did focus on a heterosexual (though I think Joy is demi and Felix is bi/pan) couple, it's always nice to see lbgt+ relationships just casually in the background.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Classism, Fatphobia, Murder, Alcohol, Body shaming, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Torture, War, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia
psistillreadyou's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Fatphobia, Body horror, and Alcoholism
Minor: Racism, Gun violence, Death of parent, Police brutality, Mental illness, and Islamophobia
b_robinson's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Hmmmmmmmmmm. I really don't know how I feel about this.
We have aliens and a plot to overthrow the monarchy and two teenagers who are connected with some weird brain thingy and so that means that inevitably they're in love. They crash land on earth after escaping without dying in the first 50 pages, make some human friends... And everything sort of goes to plan in the end? Miraculously???
The main element of this story is literally just the romance. HOWEVER there were also some SOLID subplots scattered throughout, particularly the commentary on social classes and race.
AND AND AND AND AND we got some *exquisite* rep in this. For your perusal, a breakdown; demi-ace woman of colour, a pansexual royal adoptee, a gay poc dealing with severe grief, all served with a side of complete and utter acceptance and sensitivity towards gender non-comformity. Like I'm talking every single new character was referred to using they/them until it was indicated otherwise, and multiple characters are introduced with pronouns. Hell yes for normalisation!! And I get that it might not feel like a big deal but man it's just so nice.
Unfortunately, I didn't really vibe with the romance for most of the novel, and the writing style just wasn't for me. You win some you lose some, I guess???
We have aliens and a plot to overthrow the monarchy and two teenagers who are connected with some weird brain thingy and so that means that inevitably they're in love. They crash land on earth after escaping without dying in the first 50 pages, make some human friends... And everything sort of goes to plan in the end? Miraculously???
The main element of this story is literally just the romance. HOWEVER there were also some SOLID subplots scattered throughout, particularly the commentary on social classes and race.
AND AND AND AND AND we got some *exquisite* rep in this. For your perusal, a breakdown; demi-ace woman of colour, a pansexual royal adoptee, a gay poc dealing with severe grief, all served with a side of complete and utter acceptance and sensitivity towards gender non-comformity. Like I'm talking every single new character was referred to using they/them until it was indicated otherwise, and multiple characters are introduced with pronouns. Hell yes for normalisation!! And I get that it might not feel like a big deal but man it's just so nice.
Unfortunately, I didn't really vibe with the romance for most of the novel, and the writing style just wasn't for me. You win some you lose some, I guess???
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Colonisation and Genocide
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